Undeniable Truth: A Nuzlocke Fanfiction (Apologetically Discontinued)
by SpaceDoubtVixen
Summary: Life is a delicate and fragile thing, possibly even more so for a young girl in the Unova region. Forced to leave her family, Holly is now on the run from the law with only her Pokemon to offer her comfort, if they can survive the harshness of the world to see tomorrow that is. This story is based around my Black Nuzlocke.
1. Chapter 1: A Very Merry Birthday

**Disclaimer: I should state I don't own Pokemon, or any of the names with in. Pokemon is the property of GameFreak and Nintendo, and should be recognized as such. This is purely a work of fiction, please support the official release.**

 **Chapter One: Very Merry Birthday**

 _"When you hit bottom, the place left to go is up." -_ Tim Walters

* * *

"Clear." A jolt, followed by a thump. Nothing. The singular word echoed into the air, a jolt, a thump. Nothing. The cycle repeated itself several more times, before silence reigned supreme yet again. It held, unwavering, unrelenting before it was broken by the sound of metal extending outwards. A soft thud sounded as the body was placed on the gurney, the grunt of a paramedic as he attempted to wheel it through thick carpet, and finally the creak as it rolled out of the house, out of view, and out of life.

Despite the fact that her mother was the one dead, a young girl sitting on the couch, glumly staring off into nothing, felt like a ghost. No one looked at her, spoke to her, nor paid her any thought. Her look certainly rivaled that of a specter, with pale skin and sunken eyes the color of spruce. On the inside she felt as she looked, empty, alone, and tired. She was so focused on not focusing that she didn't even realize someone new had entered her house. Though new to the situation, he certainly was not new to her.

"Tut-tut, now this really is a shame." It was the only thing he had uttered since he arrived, and had been staring at where the body had been for a solid minute, before acknowledging the girl on the worn-looking sofa. He extended his hand as though offering a warm handshake, but to the girl felt more like a cold grasp. He gave her a smile as if she had received a Vulpix for her birthday, instead of watching her mother slowly die right before her eyes. She knew that she didn't really have a choice in what was about to happen next, she had figured this to be the most likely outcome.

"You're lucky I was in the area, your father called me as soon as he found out of course, and I can't say I was all that surprised to be honest, your mother..." She stopped listening at this point, deciding instead to go to her room and gather her things. This didn't phase him though, as her father's lawyer and long- time friend simply raised his voice for her to hear him. There wasn't much in her room to collect, she didn't own much to begin with. A hoodie, a beanie, and a small book were her only valuables, she looked and decided that she wouldn't need the bed or the lamp, she wasn't exactly sure how she would've taken them anyway.

She was glad she glanced at the bed though, for there was a small parcel on it. It was crudely wrapped in brown paper, and had no note attached, but she knew it was from her mother. She looked at it for a moment before stuffing it in her arm. Then she gave her room one last look, and without a word, said goodbye to the tightly cramped closet-space that was her room. The door gave a quiet creak as it shut one last time, as though giving its own farewell, before the girl walked back into the living room where the man was still rambling, much to her dismay.

"...and I most heartily agreed, most people don't realize that the courts are always in favor of the mother. Ah, all packed are you? I'm glad you're packing light, I really don't feel like dishing out an extra thousand pokedollars just for a bag. Come along now, before we miss our train!" Still silent, she slipped the beanie on, and took the lawyer's hand. It was a short walk to the train station, and she disliked every minute of it. She disliked how she constantly had to hold the lawyer's hand, she disliked how her neighbors gave her snide glares and shot whispers to each other, she disliked how the man at the ticket-booth wouldn't stop eyeing her, and she disliked how everyone on the train kept glancing at the fancy lawyer and the dirty little girl.

"Leaving Anville Town, next stop is Nimbasa City. Next stop, Nimbasa City." Came a voice that reminded the girl of sandpaper from the train's intercom. She had only been to Nimbasa city once, when she was around seven, and all she remembered was an enormous ferris wheel. She was more preoccupied with moving at the time, and didn't bother paying attention to much else. It had been a very chaotic time in her life, and even now the details of that time were mostly fuzzy. It was probably best that way.

"Now then, Holly, are you excited to see your dad again? I can't imagine you not, considering how you've been living." She had almost forgotten about her escort, almost. He nudged her side as though he expected her to snap her fingers and spit out some witty reply. Instead, she decided to order the usual, and stay silent.

"Well, I hope you at least appreciate what I'm doing for you. I had to take the morning off, and considering today is what we call 'Rush Day' in the lawyer business, I'm really sticking my neck out for you by doing all of this." Holly didn't feel like arguing, so she decided to to gaze outside. The sight of trees and occasional Pokemon weren't exactly soothing, but very preferable when compared to paying attention to Mr. Uptight next to her. Perhaps he had finally learned that she wasn't listening, and in turn ceased talking.

The next two hours passed by without incident, minus a passenger vomiting their breakfast out the window. Most days, Holly would've been impressed with how quick time had passed while she looked out at the world passing her by, but today was an exception. She barely noticed them getting off of the train and shifting through the bustling Battle Subway, up into Nimbasa City. She saw buildings, and she saw people. Her mind was too jumbled to process anything other than that, and she was fine with that.

It was here that her father was waiting for her. He was leaned up against a building desperately trying to light a cigarette, but the Autumn wind wasn't having any of that. With shoulder-length hair with a stache and soul patch, Holly picked him out easily. He however, didn't notice them until they were mere feet from him. As soon as the lawyer and her father's eyes met, a grin sparked from them both.

"Anthony!" Her father called out, reaching in to give his friend a hug as though they hadn't seen each other in ages. Holly guessed it had been around a week.

"Arin, good to see you again!" The lawyer replied, giving his friend a pat on the back. The atmosphere became happy and jovial, as though the reason for Holly's being there was one of celebration and merry-making. It was actually a good five minutes before her father even acknowledged her, likely because they had begun talking about her mother. He turned and gave her a grin, similar to the one Anthony gave her when he walked into her former home.

"Oh hey, look at you! You've grown a bit haven't you?" He spoke as though she were five instead of fifteen, as though she were someone else's child instead of his own. He attempted to light his cigarette again, this time with success.

"Hey sorry about your mom, but I mean look what happens when you start doing dope. Warned her to get off the shit years ago, and now look where it got her? Anyway, thanks again Anthony. I know this must've been a huge hassle for you." He directed his attention back to the lawyer, Holly not bothering to remind them that her mother had become addicted again because her father had kicked them out.

"Don't worry, Arin, I have Simpson covering me for if any new cases crop up. The price of the train tickets was what's put a little dent in me." Anthony waved it off, but Holly's father looked over at her, disdain in his eyes.

"Wait, did you not pay Anthony back for coming to get you? Unbelievable, I had hoped your mother would've raised you a bit better than that. Shouldn't have expected much considering she was probably cracked out of her mind most of the time." He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. "Sorry Anthony, I'll see she makes it up to you somehow. Maybe we'll get her to clean out your yard or something, I saw the hedges were a bit overgrown when I drove by on Tuesday." Holly wanted to argue that she had no money, and that asking something like that of someone who had just lost her mother was a cruel and unreasonable request, but she decided not speaking was still a rather valid option.

Anthony nodded, seeming rather satisfied with this form of payment.

"That'll work just fine, see if she could have it done by tomorrow though, I'd really appreciate that. Well, I'd best get back to the office, I've spent enough time as it is. I'll see you tomorrow Arin, give Susan my best regards." And with that, the lawyer waved goodbye before hopping into cab. Holly didn't bother watching it drive off, she was rather happy to see him leave. Her father jerked his head to the left, indicating towards his own little car. The world became distant and unimportant again as she climbed into the car, watching the city trail behind them as they edged closer and closer to Holly's new home.

Like the train, she found herself staring out the window in an attempt to block everything else out. Unfortunately, she found it hard to block out her father's voice. Unlike Anthony, he tended to drone on and on about whatever he could think of. The neighbor's new Furret, the price of Coffee, a billboard he saw last week, her mother (that was one of his favorites), basically anything. The half-hour drive felt like an eternity, and for the first and last time, she was happy when they arrived in Nuvema town.

Nuvema was a small little nook a few miles behind Accumula Town that had a population of roughly sixty. Being right on the water, most considered it to be a hidden gem away from the crowded cities that were dotted across the region. Holly had actually lived here for the first several years of her life, and was rather familiar with the roads and houses in the town. Of course, over time some houses had been sold or on the rare occasion torn down, but minus that everything was exactly as she remembered. This included her house.

"Alright, we're here." Her dad announced. He still had a cigarette hanging in his mouth, though she suspected it was a different one as he was still trying to light it. She stepped out of the car, making sure to close the door gently. Her dad didn't however, and slammed his door nonchalantly. He didn't notice her jump, or let out a small squeal. What he did notice however, was the lady standing on his porch. She was certainly considered beautiful, to those that gave it any thought. Golden eyes that matched her hair, which was at the moment tied up in a very formal looking bun. Clean, attractive, and probably great in bed. Just how he liked them.

"Susan, honey! I'm back!" He dashed up to her, swooping up the giggling woman into his arms. Holly thought they looked ridiculous, but couldn't say anything as Susan's perfume invaded her lungs. The smell was abhorrent to say the least, and resulted in her doubling over in a coughing fit. The two love-birds noticed, not that they did much to help.

"Honey," Susan asked, "Who is that?" They stopped spinning, Arin letting out a quiet sigh.

"That's Holly. She's the one I told you about earlier, you know, Faust's kid." He whispered his former wife's name as though it was some type of curse word. Susan's eyes widened, her mouth protruding into a small "o" in realization. Arin rolled his eyes, giving his daughter a rather unimpressed look.

"Right, you don't like seeing grown-ups be all mushy and stuff, we get it. You don't have to be a brat about it." He turned and strolled inside with Susan, who was shaking her head.

"Feel free to come inside when you're done being over-dramatic." He called to her before shutting the door. Holly only coughed in reply. She felt as though her lungs were about to burst, and thanked the Legendaries when the smell was finally gone. She wanted to cry, to scream to the heavens how unfair it all was. But she still didn't have the heart for it. She wasn't sure how she was going to live with that perfume, and wondered for a moment if she might have had asthma. She stood back up ungracefully, and slowly made her way into her new home. Asthma or not, this was her home now.

The inside was just as clean as the outside, polished floors, clear windows, and not a speck of dust in sight. Holly noticed that even the trash cans looked as though they had just been thoroughly cleaned. She wasn't used everything being so pristine, and couldn't help but stare at how spotless everything was. There were no cobwebs in the corners, no mold spots, and definitely no odd stains on the couch.

"Hey kiddo, your room is upstairs. Get unpacked and we'll talk about you paying Mr. Anthony back." Her father told her. He was watching the TV, his eyes drawn to the screen like a Combee to honey. Holly gave nodded, and began making the ascent up the wooden stairway when she heard her father call out to her.

"And get a bath will you? You still smell like that crack-den you were living in." She forced another nod before turning back to the stairs. When she reached her new room, couldn't help but be surprised by how spacious it was. True, it was a storage attic more than anything, and was littered with boxes of knick-knacks and other junk she didn't care about, but it was still more space than she had ever had before.

Behind two taller boxes was a dust-ridden bed that looked like it hadn't been used in her lifetime. She dropped the package from that morning onto the mattress, she had forgotten that she was still holding it in her arm. She considered opening it, and almost did. But the temptation of an actual shower was just too much for her. Before she knew it she was in the bathroom. She hardly remembered walking downstairs, but here she was. She threw her clothes to the side, and gingerly stepped into the shower.

Two dials. One hot, one cold. Unfortunately for Holly, neither gave any sign as to which. She racked her brain, trying to remember which one shot out warm water, she had lived here when she was little after all. After a few seconds, she could've sworn she remembered the left knob was for warm water. She reached out, giving it a tiny little twist to the right. She almost screeched when a jet of ice cold water rained on her. The feeling of freezing water trailing down her back was almost enough to make her jump right out of the shower, but the prospect of soothing warm water kept her stationary.

The wait was well worth it, in her mind. Two months of freezing water with no shampoo or conditioner had taken its toll on her, and while she was okay giving up a lot of things by living with her mom, warm water was one she missed greatly. For the first time that day, she let out the faintest of smiles, right as a blob of conditioner decided to pay her eye a visit.

 **Holly used screech!**

She heard her dad shout something, and forced herself to bite her tongue. It was always something, wasn't it? She tried flushing her eyes, but it only made it worse. With a sigh of defeat, she twisted the knob to the right and stepped out of the shower, grabbing a towel and giving herself a quick dry off. She supposed wearing the same filthy clothes sort of negated the shower, but as they were the only clothes she had, they would have to do.

Returning to the living room, she was greeted by her father much to her surprise.

"Hey, some of the neighbors wanted to see you, I guess. If you're going out, make sure you're back before sundown." He paused to take a puff from his cigarette. "We still need to talk about you doing Mr. Anthony's yard." Holly nodded. Her father jerked his head to the door, to which she followed. She had a brief idea of who was on the other side of the door, though there was always the chance she could be wrong. Upon swinging open the door however, she found that her guess was correct.

"Oh my goodness! Could it really be you, Holly dear?" The blonde asked. The raven haired boy beside her shrugged, taking off his glasses and giving them a good wipe with his shirt. He spoke with clarity and very matter-of-fact like, as though even when asking a question he likely already knew the answer, compared to the girl's bubbly voice who bounced around like an Azurill, but still managed to be calm and quiet.

"Possibly." The boy contemplated, "Though her hair is more of a rosewood brown than the chestnut color it used to be, and it appears to be much shorter than before. Her eyes appear to be the same greenish color, and she still apparently has a petite frame." He closed his eyes and gave a confirming nod. "I do believe this is the same Holly from before." To which the girl gave a small yet enthusiastic cry.

Holly's face brightened a little. She had hoped her old friends were still in the area, and was actually a bit happy to see them.

"Bianca, Cheren. It's good to see you guys." Her voice came out as a slight rasp, a byproduct of not speaking all day.

"Likewise, would you care to come down to the shore with us? We were just headed down that way when we heard you in town from Bianca's father." Cheren informed her. Bianca gave a nod, beckoning towards the ocean. It only took about a minute to walk there, and was even visible from where Holly was standing.

"Come on, Holly!" Bianca insisted, "We can catch up and you can tell us what you've been up to!" She clasped Holly's hands, giving her Lillipup eyes.

"Bianca, those mean the same thing, but she's right. Care to join us?" Cheren inquired. Holly didn't even have to think about it, her birthday had been completely awful so far that anything remotely cheerful was good enough for her. Closing the door behind her, Holly followed her old friends down to the shoreline. None of them wore proper beach attire, but considering the air was shifting into the cold crisp of Autumn, they weren't exactly planning on taking a swim.

"So, Holly dear, tell us how you've been! We haven't heard from you in years, in fact we doubted whether we'd ever see you again! Daddy told me he had to pick you up from Anville and my, we were so surprised when mentioned you! Why I told Cheren..." Bianca had started rambling, as was expected. Holly was confused at first, until she remembered that Mr. Anthony was Bianca's father. She had completely forgotten that the two were even related, what with all that had been going on, the fact had slipped her mind.

Cheren piped up, cutting off Bianca's ramble, "Yes, but what we were wondering Holly is what you were doing back here. Not that we're displeased, just curious." Holly really didn't feel like explaining her entire day, but then considered that telling someone might lessen the burden. Hesitantly, she told her friends about her forced move, and the events behind it. She saw Bianca's face deteriorate from delightful curiosity, to horrified pity. Cheren's stayed the same throughout.

"Oh Holly, we're so terribly sorry. I can't imagine what you're going through right now, it must be awful." Bianca whispered, the bubbly joyfulness completely absent from her voice. Holly shrugged, kicking a sand-dollar into ocean. She suddenly felt her friend's arms wrap around her, and noticed a head in her shoulder. Now would be an okay time to cry, she reasoned. She hadn't broken down at all today, but for some reason she couldn't bring herself to do it. Not here. Not yet.

"Well, I mean it was bound to happen." Cheren's voice didn't share the same pity that Bianca's had. It was blunt, hurtful, and so matter-of-fact that it made Holly sick. She felt Bianca break from her, turning to face Cheren.

"Cheren, how could you?! Holly just lost her mother and that's all you can say? How would you feel if you lost your mother and someone said a hurtful thing like that?" Bianca questioned him.

"My mom isn't a drug addict so nobody would have any reason to s-"

"That's not the point, Cheren! You're being insensitive again!" Bianca retorted. Holly wasn't as bothered by it, she knew how offensively honest Cheren could be and had expected something of that caliber. She also knew they were about to get into one of their infamous squabbles. Her explanation had taken a bit longer than she had expected, and was now ready to trudge back home, before she got involved any more than she already was. She waved goodbye to the still bickering pair, telling them she needed to rest after all that had happened today. It wasn't a lie. She wasn't sure whether they had heard her or not, but she really didn't care.

Upon arriving back at the house, she was greeted with a list of things that needed doing. "You're not paying rent, so you'll make yourself useful one way or another." Her father had told her. That was only fair, Holly reasoned, she was taking up space, heat, water, and food, a few chores was a fair form of payment. Even though there weren't many and all together it should've taken an hour, Holly was so tired and unfocused that the job took three times as long. It was turning dark by the time she finished, and Holly was ready for bed more than anyone.

Her father had mentioned some food being in the fridge, after complaining about her slacking off, but she wasn't hungry. She asked if she could go to sleep, to which her father snorted, cracking a joke to Susan.

"The kid does nothing all day, and is worn out by eight? Jesus Susan, were you that lazy as a kid? I know I sure as hell wasn't." Susan, who was reading a book on the couch, only smiled and gave a nod. She hadn't spoken a word to Holly since she had arrived that afternoon. Holly had the feeling Susan thought that if she didn't acknowledge the girl, maybe she'd go away. Holly wished it were true, but unfortunately no matter how much she was ignored, she was still there. She heard her dad tell her something about Mr. Anthony's yard as she went up the steps, but she barely heard him.

Upon entering the attic, she felt the smallest of smiles creep up on her. She was finally going to go to sleep. Maybe, she thought, when she went to sleep she would wake up back in her mother's flat. Like the entire day had been nothing but a bad dream. In her heart, she knew none of this would come true, but a girl could dream couldn't she?

She wanted to just flop right into the bed and close her eyes, but there was a small parcel obscuring her sleeping area. She stared at it for a few moments, before rubbing her eyes. She had forgotten all about the box from her previous bedroom. She wanted to toss it on the floor, to just forget about it and drift away. Something inside her wouldn't let her though. She needed to get it over with.

Her dad was right, she thought, she hadn't done hardly anything today but mope, and yet she was ready to drop. She sighed, trying to open the cardboard package. It took a minute to open it without any sharp objects around to aid her, but she managed. Upon opening it, she was greeted with a circular object wrapped in a violet cloth. The cloth was dirty, as was the box. She raised an eyebrow as she picked it up, feeling the weight of it. Whatever it was, it wasn't that heavy.

She untied the cloth, casting it to the side. Her eyes bulged when she looked back at her hand. Her heart stopped, sweat flowed down her face like a fountain. It wasn't real. She gripped the object in her hand, feeling a shiver run through her spine. It was real.

Shiny, as though it had been hand-crafted and polished mere minutes ago. Cold, with a warm heat radiating from deep inside. A Pokeball. She couldn't speak, she couldn't think. Who? How? Why? Without meaning to, her finger pushed the button on the capsule, releasing a beam of light onto her bed. The beam materialized, turning from static to something more tangible. Before she knew it, a small blue and white creature was lying on her bed. Its eyes blinked. Once. twice.

There was an Oshawott lying on her bed. An Oshawott, her Oshawott, was lying on her bed. It looked confused, nervous, scared. But then its eyes landed on Holly, and a smile broke out on its face. It waddled over to her, hugging her arm like it was a huge stuffed animal. Holly was silent. How had a boxed Oshawott gotten on her old bed? She was confused, to say the least. It was then she noticed a slip of paper on the cloth she had discarded.

 _Happy Birthday Holly, love -Mom._

Her mother. Her mother had gotten her an Oshawott for her birthday, as a gift. She felt her eyes become wet. Her mother had probably saved so much money for this, money she probably could've used for drugs. Her cheeks had drops running down them now. Her mother was the first to wish her Happy Birthday after being dead for over twelve hours. She was weeping now.

The Oshawott didn't understand what was happening, it only knew one thing; the big comforting human was sad. So it stood up, and hugged the crying human's face. The sobbing human hugged the Oshawott, and clutched the purple cloth in its hand.

Now she could break down. After an entire day of not being able to show emotion, she poured her very soul out. Nobody saw the small, mourning, teenager shed tear upon tear. No one heard her cry and beg and apologize, no one but a tiny Pokemon, who cried with her, who wasn't even sure of why she crying.

It was a very merry Birthday, overall.

 **Sorry if the formatting is off, this is my first time publishing to and I'm not entirely sure on how to work some things. Thanks for reading, and maybe leave a review? No pressure or anything, but it does help. A lot. Thanks again.**


	2. Chapter 2: Beginning Bonds

**Chapter Two: Beginning Bonds  
**

 _"Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us." -_ Samuel Smiles

* * *

The smell of toast wafted through Holly's nostrils the next morning, with a nice burnt smell to go with it. Sleep clouded her eyes, which caused her to almost fall down the curved stairs down to the central room. Steadying herself against the wall, she carefully made her way over to the table where her step-mother and father were drinking coffee. Seeing there was enough in the pot left for small cup, she made a reach for it. Then she remembered the last time she tried coffee, the bitter and distasteful brown liquid running down her throat, the nausea, the shivering. She decided maybe she'd have a cup some other time.

The smell of burning and toast still lingered in the room, but she couldn't pinpoint a source. A empty plate with scattered crumbs showed she was too late, much to her dismay. She let out a small groan, but figured it was for the best anyway. If memory served right, her father's cooking was about as good as his parenting, which explained the burnt smell that she still noticed.

 _What a great start to the day_ , Holly thought gloomily, _maybe they have some Lucari-O's or something._ But as she went to reach for the pantry the sound of someone clearing their throat echoed from behind her. Pausing, she turned to see her father giving her one of his infamous unimpressed looks.

 _This can only end well_ , she predicted.

"Holly," He began, "You're finally awake. Arceus, do you just plan on sleeping your life away?" He paused to take a sip of his coffee, continuing his rant as soon as the mug parted from his lips. "I wanted you to be up at least an' hour ago so you could start on Anthony's lawn, but hey, you're doing it not me so it's whatever." The lawn. She had completely forgotten she was stuck doing her neighbor's lawn, and wished she hadn't remembered. Something in her gut told her she wasn't about to get out of it either. Her father confirmed this by jabbing a thumb behind him, in the direction of their garage.

Ten minutes later, she was out in her neighbor's yard, pushing a lawn-mower through grass that was short enough to be comfortable with, but still long enough to cut. Despite Autumn baring its fangs, pushing a heavy machine through grass with the sun on you will definitely rack up a sweat. It got to the point where she had to tie her hoodie around her waist, leaving her in only a yellow tank-top. It was bad enough that she was insecure from her shirt being coated in a fine layer of sweat, but she occasionally felt like someone was staring at her.

Two minutes in and she was already bored to tears, when an idea struck her. She paused the mower for a second, grabbing the pokeball bulging in her jacket pocket and releasing her new companion from its ball. A small flash followed by a red beam shot from the ball, and her Oshawott was standing on top of the mower. It seemed terribly confused, looking around in curiosity. It's vision finally landed on Holly, causing it to grow a big smile.

"Holly!" It called. Its trainer was caught off guard slightly, causing her eyebrows to raise. She got over her surprise fairly quickly though, and gave the small creature a smile.

"Hello there. How is it you know my name?" She asked, as she couldn't remember telling it to her the night before. Her Oshawott pointed a stubby paw towards the pokeball.

"I could hear, inside of the ball! I didn't know where they were coming from, but I heard voices, and one called you Holly! You're Holly!" It informed her. Holly glanced at the small sphere before shoving it back in her jacket's pocket.

 _Guess they're not completely soundproof,_ she concluded. She glanced back down at the smiling Pokemon, and started pushing the mower again, much to the Oshawott's pleasure. Though it didn't make the work any easier, (in fact if anything the added weight made it harder) it certainly helped her concentrate on something that wasn't the blasted sun scorching her neck. Holly figured now was as good as any to bond with her new friend.

"So, what's your name little fella?"She asked. The Oshawott blinked, and stared at her for a second before shaking its head.

"Nope. I don't have a name! I was bred for being a trainer's starting Pokemon, the Professor just called me 'Oshawott 92'. I'm not a 'fella' either!" She told her trainer.

 _Professor?_ Holly thought. She was getting the suspicious feeling her mother may not have acquired the small Pokemon legally. That, or a Pokemon Professor had sold her an actual league-verified starter, which didn't sound legal either, come to think of it. She brushed it off for the time being, deciding it probably wasn't that important.

"Well, I suppose I should probably give you a name then, if you want one that is. How does that sound?" Holly offered. The otter-Pokemon smiled, giving her a nod and a small clap.

"Oh, really? I'd love it, it would be really nice to have one! Um..." She paused for a second, touching her paws together nervously. "Could I ask that you not make it silly, if that's okay?" Holly couldn't help but grin as she moved the mower around a tree, and she nodded.

"No worries, I'll try to come up with one that fits you." Holly pondered for a few seconds, thinking up of a name for her new friend. She supposed a water related name was a bit cliché, but there were some that were just too good to pass up.

"What about Bay? Or maybe Sea Salt?" Those both sounded pretty nice. "Oh, how does Marina sound?" She suggested. Oshawott smiled and gave a clap, nodding her head.

"I love it! I really love it! From now on, I'm Marina the Oshawott!" Her happiness was infectious, as Holly couldn't help but smile along with her. As they talked, the time seemed to pass by faster, so much so that after nearly an hour of chatting Holly barely even noticed that she covered in sweat. Even Marina had a bit just from standing in the sun's rays. Being bred for beginning trainers, Marina didn't have much to talk about. It worked out fine though, as Holly had plenty to say. She told Marina about her father, how she was a final gift from her mother, and plenty of other things that plagued her mind. They were so caught up in talking that they didn't even notice someone come outside.

"Holly, is that you? Whatever are you doing?" Bianca hopped from her steps down onto the lawn, striding over to the sweat-drenched girl. Holly, looking up, gave her an exhausted wave, with Marina following suit. As soon as Bianca noticed the little otter, she let out a squeal of delight, swooping it her arms and giving a little twirl.

"Goodness, wherever did you get this little cutie, Holly?! Oh Arceus, isn't she just cutest thing?" She gave her a huge hug, which Marina returned. "I could just eat her up!" Holly turned off the mower, definitely ready for a break. Taking a seat, she wiped her brow and looked up at her neighbor.

"Holly, dear, what are you doing? Why are you mowing my yard, shouldn't you be at home resting? It's so early too." Bianca asked. Marina was busy playing with Bianca's hair, as Bianca was holding her as though she were a small child. Holly shrugged, explaining the whole situation with their fathers and how she had started mowing as soon as she woke up. Bianca looked horrified.

"But do you mean you haven't even had breakfast yet? That's just cruel! Holly dear, would you care for some oatmeal?" But Holly shook her head. She knew her dad would probably scold her if she didn't hurry, and she really didn't want to have another lecture.

"No it's fine, but if you could get Marina a muffin or something, I'd really appreciate it." Holly didn't know a thing about raising a Pokemon, but she didn't need to be Professor to know they needed to eat. Bianca nodded, taking Marina in the house. Holly started up the mower again, mowing the final patches of grass that had taken up her morning. She let another smile creep across her face as she wheeled the mower back over to her father's garage. Finally, it was done.

"Forgetting something, Holly?" Bianca called out to her. Holly trudged back over to the now cut yard, grinning at Marina who was chowing down on a Muffin. Holly wasn't surprised when she saw Bianca extend her other hand out, another muffin in it.

"I know you said you didn't want anything, but really Holly, you can't do all that work on an empty stomach! Please, eat something!" _This girl has a heart of pure gold,_ Holly realized. She eventually accepted, taking a good sized bite out of it. It didn't come as a shock that it tasted delicious, Holly remembered that Anthony had raised his daughter on the belief that it was a girl's job to make food, and had taught her the basics when she was five. As much as her muffins made Holly's mouth water, she disapproved.

"As tasty as ever Bianca, thank you. Oh, and thanks for feeding Marina as well." She told her gratefully. Bianca waved it off, telling her to think nothing of it. "So," Holly deviated, "Since I'm back, and I know its been a while, maybe we could hang out? You know, like we use to when we were kids." She had truly missed her friend, nostalgia flowing through her mind like a river as she remembered the adventures they had had back in the day. A certain one stuck out in Holly's mind, where Cheren told them a that a pack of Patrats out on Route 1 had a rare breed among them. Their curiosity had gotten the better of them, and the two girls went out to investigate.

As it turned out, Cheren had been full of it and wanted to see if the girls actually believed him, and they certainly had. The Patrats weren't very happy about having two humans thumping around and disturbing them, in fact they were furious. Bianca ended up with two small bites on her leg, and some good scratches, Holly however had the worst of it. As she had stumbled upon them first, the pack had completely swarmed her, giving her multiple bites, scratches, and other nasty injuries. Granted, she wasn't in any real danger, but it had certainly scarred her mentally.

"Oh that would be lovely, Holly, but I've got some errands I need to run. You see, I'm planning on starting my Pokemon journey!" Bianca announced giddily. Holly's heart sank. Bianca was going on a Pokemon journey. She knew she should've expected this; Bianca had always told her about the dream when they were kids. For some reason though, it still surprised her. Maybe it was that she thought Anthony would've crushed it out of his daughter, or maybe she was just surprised by the suddenness of it. She wasn't entirely sure.

"Your dad's letting you go on a journey?" Holly questioned. Bianca shifted uncomfortably, giving a small smile.

"Well," Bianca mumbled. " I mean technically I haven't asked daddy yet. He doesn't like when I bring it up, but I've been really good these last few months! I've been thinking that if I do everything he asks without complaining or slacking off, he'll let me go!" Holly seriously doubted this. She wanted to tell her that her father would quit his job before he he let her do anything of the sort, but Holly couldn't bring herself to. Bianca looked so excited, she couldn't break it to her, even if she knew Anthony would crush her hopes sooner than later, she couldn't be the one to tell her.

"I'm sure it'll go fine, Bianca." Holly assured her, a tiny smile on her face. Bianca smiled back, and gave a her a big hug. Then, she informed Holly that she was actually following Cheren's footsteps, as he was leaving soon as well. Holly had to stop herself from rolling her eyes, but it was quite the challenge. Despite how much they argued, Bianca had an awful habit of trailing after the boy like a lost Lillipup.

A tiny yawn sounded next to Holly, and she realized Marina was falling asleep against her shoulder. Being out for the first time in ages had taken its toll on her new friend, and figured it wouldn't be long until she was out completely. Readjusting the otter, she bid Bianca farewell giving one last "Thank you", before turning back to her own house. She was sure her father would find some way to complain about the quality of their neighbor's lawn, but she just wanted to get it over with so she could go back to sleep.

She sent Marina back into her pokeball, and took a hesitant step inside. Empty. She peeked in the kitchen, nobody there. The living room? Vacant. Where had they gone? They couldn't have left, as Holly would've noticed them going out, not to mention the car was still parked just outside. She figured they they might have gone upstairs to her room, when she passed by theirs, what she heard made her sick and blush at the same time. _Nope_ , she thought as she shot up the stairs as quietly as she could. Today had been unpleasant, tiring, and slightly nauseous towards the end; all she wanted was to get some rest without hearing bed creaks and moaning. It was far too early for this.

Holly awoke many hours later to what felt like a volley-ball nuzzled into her side. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she realized it was Marina, quietly snoring away. Holly couldn't help but smile sweetly, faintly reminded of when she used to do the same with her mother when she couldn't sleep. She had no idea what time it was, but judging from lack of light outside, she had a good feeling it wasn't morning anymore. She yawned and picked Marina up, placing the sleeping Oshawott over her shoulder as she sleepily walked downstairs. Maybe her father could tell her how long she had slept amidst his inevitable complaining.

Taking care not to trip this time, she walked into to kitchen.

"Dad, you there? What time i-" She managed to get out before ducking just in time to avoid a large metal ladle from smashing into her face. She looked up in shock at her step-mother, who looked both furious and terrified at once. Marina, who was awakened by the sudden drop and loud 'clang', mirrored Susan's fear. Her father was there in a second, attempting to calm his wife down to little avail.

"Look at it, Arin! There's one in the house, look at it!" Susan screeched. Her father kept making comforting noises to her, telling her that everything would be alright and that he would handle it. _It?_ Holly thought. _Is she really calling me an it?_ But it only took a second to realize she was talking about the frightened Oshawott clinging to her shoulder, not her. Her father ushered Susan into the living room, promising her a large cup of tea. When he came back into the kitchen, he wasn't angry; he was absolutely livid.

"Have you lost your damn mind?! You know she's scared of Pokemon!" He roared. Holly wanted to argue that she knew no such thing, and that Susan had nearly broken her nose with a ladle, but her father gave her no such chance. "I've had enough, this is ridiculous. You sleep the entire day after that half-assed attempt at cutting lawn." _There it is,_ Holly thought. Her father continued on, not letting up for a second. "Had to apologize to Anthony because you're too lazy to do any actual work, well enough is enough I say. You're going to learn one way or another." He reached forward and yanked Marina off of Holly's shoulder, much to both of their alarm.

"Starting with getting rid of this. Where the hell did you even get a Pokemon?" He turned to the door, but Holly got up and rushed after him. Marina was the only thing from her mother she had, and she was not about to lose her.

"Let go of her, Mom gave her t-" Again she was interrupted, this time by a flash of pain as a hand streaked across her face, causing her to fall back. Her cheek burned, and she felt a bit dazed as she fell against the floor. She was about to get up again when she saw her father fall backward, his hands covering his face. Holly wasn't sure what happened, but she didn't stay to find out. She grabbed Marina, who had shuffled over to her, and dashed upstairs. Her mind was racing, and she didn't answer Marina's question, asking her if she was okay.

Holly grabbed her beanie, Marina's pokeball, and the violet cloth it had come in. She didn't know what would happen next, all she knew was that she didn't want to stay to find out. Putting a rather shaken Marina back into her ball, she was downstairs again within seconds and bolted out the door. Her father hollered from the bathroom, washing something, and her step-mother was with him. They didn't even notice her leaving. She stopped for a second, trying to get her bearings in the dark before running off north. She weaved in-between cars and houses, hardly even looking where she was going.

The night was cool and crisp, with a few stars shining down beyond on the clouds that dotted the sky. A couple streetlights lit the streets, allowing just enough light for Holly to make out where she was going. There was no wind, no cars driving up and down the roads, nor was there anyone outside. The only sound was the frantic breathing of a fifteen year old girl, and the slap of her shoes hitting the pavement. She was so focused on running that she didn't see the other figure until she ran right into them, knocking them both to the ground.

"Oh Arceus, ow, I am so sorry!" Holly apologized. She was lying on the ground, clutching her forehead and attempting to feebly stand back up. She wasn't even sure who she knocked over until a sudden voice said, "Holly?" She was so surprised by this that she forced open her eyes, looking at the figure in front of her. It was hard to make out in the darkness, but now that she was looking at the silhouette it was very clearly that of a certain young girl.

"Bianca?" Holly whispered. She was proven correct when her friend rushed over and began apologizing profusely, pulling her up and keeping her steady. Holly brushed off her jeans and looked over at Bianca, who was still quivering and apologizing, and noticed she seemed a bit more anxious than usual.

"... and well I guess when it comes down to it I just wasn't paying attention Holly, I'm so dreadfully sorry!" She looked like she was about to cry, and that was the last thing Holly wanted, or needed.

"Bianca, look don't worry, it's fine. I was in such a rush I wasn't looking where I was going either, don't worry about it. See? I'm not bleeding." Holly paused, and checked her forehead. "I think, anyway." She noticed Bianca still looking as though she had committed a heinous crime, with her eyes watery and the occasional sniffling. Holly, sympathetic, gave her a nice big hug.

"Holly, if you don't mind me asking, what ever are you doing out here?" Bianca inquired as she wiped her eyes. Holly didn't speak immediately. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to tell her friend what she was about to do. She wasn't even sure if she was actually going to do it. What if she was just overreacting? _No,_ she thought. _No, I'm not overreacting, and even if I am there's no going back after this._ With only a tiny bit of hesitation , she confided in Bianca about what happened. Bianca remained quiet throughout, nodding when Holly had finished.

"I want to say I'm surprised, but I know you and your father never really got along. I know this has been a very rough time for you, with your mother and all that, but I hope you understand that I'm here for you Holly." She gave Holly a warm smile, and then rubbed the back of her neck, as though embarrassed. "I suppose I can't criticize you for leaving, when I'm more or less doing the same thing." Holly, curious, pressed her for further details. It took a minute, but she eventually gave in.

"Well, me and daddy got into an argument. You were right, actually. He didn't want me to go on a journey." Bianca's head lowered, and she looked like she might start crying again. "He said that I had no idea what I was talking about, and that girls were meant to stay home. I-I tried telling him that Professor Juniper recommended me herself, but he told me she was a girl too and that if she was putting stupid ideas in my head than he would personally take her to court! Did I tell you about the Professor, how she said I showed great potential and everything?" Holly shook her head. She had heard about the Unovan Professor on the radio, and that she had a side-lab here in Nuvema, but nothing from Bianca.

"I guess I forgot to mention it, but she was visiting her lab and I happened to pass by. Anyway, daddy said to just forget about it and if he heard anything more than he would..." Tears had started to fall, and Holly gave her another hug. After another minute of sympathetic hugging, Bianca wiped her eyes and pulled something from her belt. Holly hadn't noticed it before, but she had a feeling she knew what it was. The spherical object was similar to the one in her own pocket, and her assumption was proven right when Bianca opened it and a small pig-like Pokemon appeared through the sharp red light. Bianca bent down and picked it up, receiving a small lick to the cheek.

"This is a Tepig, though I named him Coal. Isn't he just a little cutie?" She asked. Holly smiled, reaching over and petting Coal behind the ears. She had to admit, he was pretty cute when he gave a tiny squeal and licked her hand. Marina, in her mind though, would always be far more adorable however. She decided to bring Marina out, who still seemed a bit nervous after the previous events and wouldn't leave Holly's shoulder, only allowing Bianca to give her a small hug before scrambling back in place. Holly was about to ask why her Tepig wasn't talking much when a familiar voice reached their ears.

"Honestly Bianca, you'd call a raging Basculin adorable." Cheren was standing under the streetlight behind them, sporting a rather formal baby-blue jacket with a nice white and red undershirt beneath. His hair was slicked as though he was going to some sort of dinner, instead of on a Pokemon journey. He had a small leather pack slung around his shoulder, and overall looked rather prepared, unlike Bianca who's orange vest and white skirt screamed the opposite.

"What are you doing here?" Holly asked. She wasn't sure if she could handle another stupid quarrel between the two of them, and would've been just fine with Bianca's company.

Cheren shook his head. "Tsk-tsk, didn't Bianca tell you? You two had been chattering for so long I was sure she filled you in already. The two of us have been selected by Professor Juniper to assist in her research across the region by collecting data on the native Pokemon." He stated, matter-of-fact like. Holly frowned, and gave a side glance at Bianca who had suddenly become interested in anything that wasn't the conversation. "The real question is what are you doing here? Come to see Bianca and me off? We have to get to Accumula Town to meet up with Professor Juniper since she'll only be there for a few more hours." He rolled his eyes at the both of them. "From all the yelling I heard from your houses, I'm surprised either of you are here." His eyes flickered between them, as though looking for an explanation, but he received none.

Holly didn't dare tell Cheren what had just unfurled, he'd only tell her how in the wrong she was. Instead, the three of them walked to the entrance of Route 1. Cheren brought out his Pokemon, a Snivy he named "Baron", while he and Bianca talked about what Pokemon they would encounter. "I doubt you'll see more than a few Patrat, maybe a Lillipup if you're lucky." Cheren said. "Patrats are important too, they're still part of our research!" Bianca replied. Holly however, had her mind on far deeper thoughts. Was she really about to run away? Was it even the right decision? Maybe she ought to head back, and apologize...

"Holly, did you hear me?" Cheren asked, snapping his fingers and yanking Holly out of her thoughts. She shook her head, wondering if it was a snide remark saying that since they had reached Route 1, she could go home now.

"Bianca says if we're starting a journey together, she wants us all to take our first step at the same time." He repeated. "Personally I think it's a waste of time, and besides, who said anything about you coming with us? I don't remember you being assigned by the Professor." He shot in. Bianca looked as though she were about to say something, but Cheren shrugged. "Don't let me stop you though, if you think you're actually up for it." The look in his eyes told Holly everything. He didn't think she could. He was challenging her. A sudden desire to prove him wrong mixed with the need to leave her home moved her, and with their Pokemon at their side, as they all held their breath, took a step onto Route 1.

The grass was no different, nor was the air heavier or lighter in anyway, yet time seemed to stand still. It was essentially the exact same as it had been, but there was a different feeling in the three of them. It was the same feeling most feel upon receiving their first Pokemon, eagerness and excitement, yet caution and insecurity. The world had officially been shoved into their hands, with no way to know what could happen. They took their second step, and then a third. They began breathing again.

"Well, that's that." Cheren stated, adjusting his leather strap before walking off ahead of them. Bianca followed after him like a lost Lillipup while Holly stayed back a few paces. She couldn't explain Bianca's and Cheren's friendship, as they were either as thick as thieves or at each others throats. Holly could explain her own friendship with the two of them just fine; she really liked Bianca, and she didn't really like Cheren. She could have sworn he wasn't as much of a jerk when they were smaller.

"... So what do you think, that sound like a good idea?" Bianca asked the two of them. Apparently she had suggested something, but Holly hadn't been listening again. Cheren noticed this and spoke up.

"Bianca wants to see how many Pokemon we can catch before reaching Accumula Town. You down?" He asked. In all honesty, Holly wasn't really feeling up for a contest, but not wanting to seem weakened in any way, she agreed.

"Sure, a contest will warm us up at least." Holly said. Cheren nodded, and Bianca gave a little skip of joy before handing each of them a few pokeballs. The chilling night air had dropped even lower, much to Holly's displeasure, and even with the beanie and hoodie she was sporting, the cold still managed to get to her. The three of them nodded, and set off in different directions through the woods.

"We'll meet at the entrance to Accumula Town, okay?" Bianca called out to them, "Try to get there before... " She faltered, apparently not having thought of a good time.

"Two." Cheren finished. Holly didn't have to look over at him to guess he was rolling his eyes. "That gives us about half an hour to gather some Pokemon, and get to the entrance." With that he continued walking, until he blended in with the darkness and was out of sight. Bianca gave Holly a quick "Good luck" and did the same. There were no streetlights on Route 101, which made sense as it was incredibly small for a route. It would only take fifteen minutes to get to Accumula, but with only the moon to light her way, Holly felt completely alone.

This was proved untrue almost immediately though, as a certain Oshawott tugged at her sleeve. Holly had completely forgotten she was holding her Pokemon, and felt a small bit of warmth course through her as she realized that she was a Pokemon Trainer now, she was never alone. Well, she was an unregistered trainer, which technically meant she wasn't a trainer. She made a mental note to register once she made it Accumula, and set Marina on the dirt path.

"Ready to get to work?" Holly asked. Marina nodded, and together the took to the left area of Route 1. Route 1 was more of a park than an actual route, with tiny ponds and a few stairs set on the path. Like every route though, there was tall grass everywhere. When she was little, Holly wondered how a Pokemon could hide in the grass, but now that she was right up in it, she wasn't surprised one bit. It was thick, and a bit of a pain to get through, and Holly, deciding it wasn't worth the trouble after getting her foot stuck, decided to avoid it.

Instead, she decided to talk to the only other thing around: Marina. The little Oshawott was treading next her, gingerly stepping through the tall grass when necessary. _I wonder how she feels about all this_ , Holly wondered.

She stopped, deciding to take a break under an oak tree that was resting next to a little pond. Marina hopped over to her, resting on her lap. Neither of them spoke for a minute, until Holly finally asked, "How do you feel about all this, Marina?" Marina didn't say immediately, deciding to think on it for a second.

"I think," She finally decided, "that I'm really nervous about what could happen. But, no matter what, I'll do my best to help you. That's what Pokemon are for, right?" Holly thought personally that the latter part was debatable, but otherwise nodded and gave Marina a hug when a thought struck her.

"Marina, did you attack my dad?" She asked, thinking back to her father's bloodied nose. A guilty look washed over Marina as she a gave a tiny nod.

"I saw what he did to you, and then he picked me up and I wasn't sure what he was about to do so I tackled him, and I guess I got him pretty good." She admitted. Holly gave her a pat on the head, and told her, "Good job" which gained her a nice little hug from the Pokemon. A sudden feeling crawled through the both of them, the feeling of being watched, causing both of them to start. They both looked around for the source, when a rustle emitted from the grass patch across from them, and out came a rather annoyed looking Patrat.

Memories of being surrounded being surrounded by the devilish little creatures sprouted in Holly's mind, and with a cry she pointed at it and called out, "Tackle it, Marina!" Marina didn't hesitate to jump to her trainer's defense, rushing from her lap right into the surprised Patrat. They both tumbled over, and before Marina could regain her composure, her assailant looked her dead in the eyes and gave her a nasty leer, causing her to hesitate.

"Marina, tackle it again, quick!" Holly yelled, but she wasn't fast enough. Patrat took advantage of Marina's hesitation, and delivered a quick scratch right across her face. Marina recoiled, bringing her paws up to her face to cover the hit, but as soon as she did the Patrat slammed into her, knocking her over into the grass. Holly ran her hands over her mouth, panic sweeping over her. What was she supposed to do? She supposed she could go over and kick the thing while it was distracted, but common sense told her that wasn't exactly a safe option. Standing there and letting her Pokemon get mauled wasn't one either.

"Marina, get up and uh..." She was faltering, she didn't know any of Marina's moves. She racked her brain, trying to remember one of the basic moves most Pokemon learned. Cheren had mentioned plenty of them throughout the time they had known each other, surely she remembered one?

"Tail Whip!" She shouted. Marina got up, just in time to wave her tiny tail right in her opponents face. The Patrat was so bemused that it just stood there, utter confusion in it's big glaring eyes. This was the perfect opportunity. Holly didn't even have to give the command, Marina slammed her head right into the Pokemon's face, knocking it right back into the patch of grass. Holly let out a squeal of delight while Marina wiped the little line of sweat that had formed on her forehead. Holly picked her up and walked her over to the pond behind them, letting her catch her breath and get a quick drink.

"You were amazing Marina." Holly murmured. She was scratching in-between her Pokemon's pointed blue... ears? She was pretty sure they were ears. Though the fight had only lasted a minute, for Holly it had felt like forever. What if she had let Marina die, all because Holly froze up cause of some stupid rat? That wasn't how trainers were supposed to act. From what she had heard from various television shows, the bond between a Pokemon and their trainer meant everything. You had to trust one another with your lives, and if Marina couldn't trust her, they would never make it past Route 1.

"Sorry I froze up, that was... really irresponsible of me. I won't let it happen again, okay?" Holly checked after Marina was done drinking from the pond. The Oshawott gave her a big grin, and a hug just as large.

"It's okay Holly, I forgive you!" She told her. Holly grinned back and picked up the smiling Pokemon, deciding to begin walking. The wind whispered through the grass, bringing back the chilly evening air yet again, sending a chill through the both of them. Holly was thankful for her jacket, but a shaking in her hands revealed Marina shivering as the wind slapped against her. Holly felt a twinge of sympathy for her Pokemon and decided to unzip her jacket halfway down, leaving a nice little pocket.

"Here." Holly said, stuffing Marina's shivering body into the jacket while keeping her head poked out. The shaking continued for a second as she got herself comfortable, and looked up to give Holly another big smile in thanks. Holly returned it, and set off across the grassy pathway towards Accumula Town.

"Let's go see if Bianca and Cheren are waiting for us."

As it turned out, they were. Holly had managed to get through the rest of route one without having to deal with any more Patrats, or any other Pokemon for that matter. It took some careful footwork to make sure she get lodged in the tall grass, but after a little while she eventually made it to the outskirts of Accumula Town. The dirt road that lead from Nuvema Town to Accumula just directly shifted into full on pavement, marking a very distinct border between the city and and the route. Cheren was leaned up against a tree, clearly bored of waiting while Bianca stood right in front of the pavement, greeting Holly with a wave as she approached.

"There you are Holly, how many Pokemon did you catch?" Bianca asked, her eyes darting to Holly's pockets. "Me and Cheren already have two, believe it or not!" _Oh right,_ Holly remembered, _I was supposed to catch Pokemon. I probably should've caught the Patrat that Marina fought, but the thought had completely slipped my mind._

"Sorry, I guess I didn't manage to catch any." She apologized, feeling a tad bit guilty. Cheren rolled his eyes, and gave his typical snarky remark of, "What, did you just stare a the trees that whole time?" Holly ignored him.

"But won't Marina get lonely?" Bianca asked as they strolled through the entrance. Holly doubted her new friend would get bored of her Trainer that fast, but she figured if she did then she would just have to catch another one eventually. They walked along the sidewalk for a fair distance before coming to a big blue and red building, a Pokemon Center. Cheren went off on another explanation about the uses and workings of a Center, information that Holly was already well aware of. She hated the way he explained everything to her, as though she was an idiot.

"... but you get the gist of it. Well, me and Bianca are off to see the Professor. I hope you have fun doing er- whatever it is you're doing. See you later, Holly." And left, without another word. Bianca was far more sympathetic, giving her a hug and slipping her a tiny stack of Unovan currency.

"Good luck, Holly. Keep in touch when you can, okay? Bye Marina." She gave a tiny hug to Marina, and followed behind Cheren. Soon enough, she was gone. Holly looked at the money in her hands, it wouldn't buy her a hotel room, but it would probably buy her a room at the Center. Holding Marina in her jacket, she walked into the Center and felt her teeth begin to chatter almost instantly. For whatever reason, the air conditioning was on and it was set to way past high. She zipped her jacket up a little tighter while still keeping Marina comfortable, and stepped over to the counter.

"Hi, I'm sorry to both you, but uh... would this get me a room for tonight?" She held out the cash Bianca had given her, and received a smile and a nod from the nurse, who took the money and handed her a tiny metal key with a number on it. She didn't realize how tired she was until she reached her new room (which thankfully had the heat on). She didn't bother undressing, or even turning the lights on, and simply fell into the bed, wrapping the blankets around her and Marina who had cuddled up next to her. Her body was tired, her mind was tired, and the only thing she really wanted was to take a nice long sleep with her Pokemon beside her.

So she did.

* * *

 **A.N: I realize that in most media, Poke-Centers are displayed as "free" to all trainers, while also holding lodgings for them in the Anime. I figured to go for a mix and just have the lodgings cost money, and unfortunately I have no idea what to call the currency. I've seen Poke, Pokedollars, and Yen, but I'm not sure. Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed even a tiny bit of what you saw.**


	3. Chapter 3: Grit Those Teeth!

Chapter 3: Grit Those Teeth

 _"I don't go looking for trouble. Trouble usually finds me."_ \- J.K. Rowling

* * *

Sunlight cut through the wispy clouds, shining right into Holly's eyes as she rubbed a hand through her hair. It was the next morning, and she had been trying to register herself as a Trainer for what seemed like forever, though in reality had only been ten minutes at most. All Centers were legally bound to permit Trainer registration forms to anyone who wanted to become an official League certified Trainer. Unfortunately like everything else in Unova, it came with a price.

"Isn't there some kind of exception you can make?" Holly begged a rather exasperated looking attendant. Holly had already given her information, taken a picture, and even filed out a bit of paper-work, but it had never stated anywhere that there was a cost. The attendant was tapping a pen against the counter, and wearing a scowl that would've sent shivers down even Cheren's spine. She had on a normal Center uniform, with a nice little name-tag on her chest that said, "Hello, my name is Samantha!" with her name in curvy letters. Her brown hair was in a bun, and was leaning against her hand as she let out a very audible groan. She tapped a few keys on the keyboard, which resulted in a loud beep from the PC at her table.

"Yeah, sorry kid. No money, no certification. Even the computer says so, no can do." Samantha's eyes flipped back from the computer to Holly, the lids halfway closed as she attempted to keep a level tone. "Now, unless there's something else I can help you with please move on. There are other people behind you, kid." Holly glanced behind her, there was a handsome fellow in a long coat, a woman on her phone, and a boy carrying a sleeping Lillipup. With a sigh defeat, she went through the Center door, sitting down on a bench right outside of it. It was a crisp, cool morning with minimal clouds covering the sky, and the sun just peering over the tips of the trees. What should've been a pleasant morning was slowly turning into a dreadful one, as the wind sent a chill down her very spine. All the money Bianca had given her had gone into getting a room, and now she didn't have nearly enough for a Trainer Certification ID. They weren't terribly expensive, but as Holly was now broke she was stuck without one.

Just as Holly was considering the finer points of being an illegal Trainer, she felt someone give her a shoulder a small tap. She turned around, surprised to see the man who was behind her in line holding something in his hand. _Oh Arceus,_ Holly thought, _he's handsome!_ Indeed he was, with short dark hair that jutted forwards and a dazzling smile, complimented by a set of stormy grey eyes. He was sporting a long brown coat that Holly couldn't help but be jealous of, given it looked far warmer than her plain little hoodie, with a nice formal vest underneath. Holly figured he couldn't have been over twenty, twenty-five at the latest.

After what seemed like an eternity of her just staring at him, he spoke up.

"Pardon me, Miss. It would appear you've forgotten your Trainer ID." He told her, holding up a small slip of plastic. Holly blinked. _ID?_ She wondered. She didn't have an ID, unfortunately, what was he playing at? He flicked his eyes towards the slip, indicating for her to take it. She did, and her eyes widened as upon closer inspection she realized it was indeed an official Trainer ID! Plastered right on the front was her name in bright bold letters that spelled out " **Holly McConall** " It was an average grey card, with her name and mugshot printed on the front and her info on the back. She figured she could probably get a better one later, but how did she have one to begin with? She asked the man where he had gotten the card, stating that she hadn't paid for it.

"Yes, I heard while I was in line. I couldn't help but notice you sulking off outside, and figured I'd go on and pay it for you. It wasn't much, and you had already put down all your info so I just thought I'd do my good deed for today!" He was rather exuberant, Holly noticed, and had a sense of bravado around him, but that didn't matter much to her. She grabbed the man's hand and shook it, thanking him repeatedly for his kindness. He waved it off, telling her, "Not a problem, not a problem at all!" She was just about to ask his name when the sound of a trumpet call rang from their right.

"Sounds like something's going on in the plaza," The man said, speaking Holly's thoughts. "Let's have a little look-see." With that he set off towards the town's plaza, with Holly close behind. No longer fearing having to release her Pokemon, she reached into her pocket and pulled out Marina's pokeball, bringing her out onto the stone street. Marina climbed up onto Holly, planting herself right on Holly's beanie and giving her a big smile that Holly returned. Setting off into a brisk walk, she hurried on after the stranger.

The plaza was only a short distance from the Pokemon Center, and was soon in viewing distance. There appeared to be a large crowd stationed around something that Holly couldn't see as she stepped crowd herself, gingerly stepping in-between onlookers as she tried to get a better view. As she finally moved to the left of a rather wide fellow, the mysterious gathering of people became clear as she noticed two banners stuck into the grass on metal poles. A flag was strapped on both of them, with a large black and white shield covered by two electric blue letters: a "T" and a "Z". Holly recognized them instantly as Team Plasma, a group dedicated to the saving of mistreated Pokemon from the abusive and unfit Trainers that kept them, which was a growing problem in the Unova region. Holly had often listened to their podcasts that they played every Friday, where they would talk about all the accomplishments the group had made that week and what listeners could do to help out, followed by their usual motto (Pokemon are Arceus' creations too, so treat them as you would want him to treat you!) that they said at the end of every session.

Holly had in fact dreamed of becoming part of Team Plasma one day, going off and saving Pokemon from cruel had Trainers seemed like the perfect job, if not a bit dangerous. The dream of joining them slowly became just that, a dream, as her and her mother's living situation became more and more dire. Maybe now she could finally join them, if they were recruiting. Holly was about to tell Marina this when she felt the small Pokemon tug on her hat, looking up she saw that Marina was pointing to their left, right at a young boy with sleek black hair and red glasses. Cheren. Holly had been so deep in her daydreaming that she hadn't even noticed she was standing next to her neighbor. Cheren didn't seem to notice them as he was staring straight ahead, and Holly thought he might've missed them until he turned his head, giving them a brief nod before turning back. Holly shrugged, turning back to listen to Team Plasma.

"... and so today we continue to further that goal. It is a common misconception that we as humans live together with Pokemon in a sort of partnership we want and need each other. Can we truly call that the truth? Have we ever considered that perhaps we humans only assume this as the truth?" A man with pale green hair and an odd eyepiece, along with a long brown cloak that gave him a rather mysterious appearance. Holly recognized him as Ghetsis, one of the Seven Sages of Team Plasma, as she had heard him on the radio on occasion.

"Pokemon are subjected to the selfish commands of Trainers, being pushed around when they are 'partners' at work. Can any of you say with confidence that there is no truth in what I'm saying?" He asked the crowd. Many of the onlookers turned to each other, some denouncing his words instantly while other seemed uncomfortable. Holly herself felt unease shift through her at this.

"Pokemon are different from us, Ladies and Gentlemen. They are living beings that contain unknown potential, from the weakest Magikarp to the strongest Conkeldurr, they are living beings from whom we humans have much to learn. Tell me, what is our responsibility toward these wonderful beings we call Pokemon?" Whispers spread throughout the crowd like wildfire, from fairness to liberation, almost everyone asked something.

"Yes, liberation my good man!" Ghetsis cried, pointing at a rather panic stricken balding man. "Then, and only then, will humans and Pokemon truly be equals! Everyone, I end my words here today by imploring you to consider the relationship between people and Pokemon, and the correct way to proceed. We sincerely appreciate your attention." As soon as stopped speaking, two Plasma members stepped forward and took down the poles, slinging them over their backs as they formed a barrier around Ghetsis, who within mere seconds had turned and began walking down the street.

The whole crowd began chattering excitedly, asking whether or not they should liberate their Pokemon.

"I say we do it, we can't just sit around and rule over the poor creatures!" The bald man announced. A younger man standing a few feet from him tossed in his two cents, "Are you crazy? We can't just get rid of them, that'd be like throwing out your own kids!" Debates began sprouting up everywhere, with the crowd slowly breaking up, save for a few. Holly, being one of them, turned to Cheren.

"What do you think, Cheren?" She asked. Cheren had that know-it-all look in his eye and scoffed.

"Please, If people abandoned their Pokemon every time someone else said to, there'd be no more Trainers left."

It was then Holly noticed the man who had bought her ID was standing behind her, mumbling to himself in a thinking pose with his hand against his chin.

"... I see, planting the seed of doubt in their minds. Clever, clever indeed." With that, he walked away, not even noticing Holly. Marina tugged at Holly's beanie, looking anxious.

"Holly, I don't want you to 'liberate' me." She told her. Holly smiled, reaching up and giving her a warm smile.

"Don't worry, I don't plan on it." Holly said in a comforting manner. Cheren raised an eyebrow, looking like he was about to say something snarky when someone else walked up to them. Holly recognized him as one of the members of the crowd, he stuck out pretty well with grass colored hair under a black and white cap.

"Your Pokemon, just now it was saying-" He began. Cheren turned, putting his hands up in a 'relax' sort of motion.

"Arceus, slow down. You talk way too fast. And what's this about Pokemon... talking? Pretty dumb thing to say to be honest, Pokemon can't talk." Cheren stated. Holly glared him.

"Yes, they can." Both the stranger and Holly said in unison. He seemed relatively surprised, and turned towards her.

"Then, you can hear it as well?" An odd smile broke out on his face. "How interesting, my name is N." Cheren rolled his eyes and stuck out his hand.

"Yeah, my name is Cheren, that's Holly on my right." He said, introducing them. N's hands remained at his side, but Cheren didn't seem too put off by it. "I was asked to complete the Pokedex and just started my journey, but my main goal is to become the Champion." He bragged, adjusting his glasses in a very showoff manner. N's face darkened.

"The... Pokedex? So, allow me to get this straight. You're going to confine many, many Pokemon in pokeballs just to 'catch them all', right?" He gave Cheren a rather accusatory stare. " I myself am a Trainer, too, but I can't help but wonder if Pokemon are really happy that way." Cheren muttered something about N being another Pokemon liberator, but N focused his attention on Holly.

"Your name is Holly, correct? Come, let us hear your Pokemon's voice again!" Holly didn't like the way he was staring into her eyes, but she didn't have to worry long for N had reached for his belt and thrown a pokeball, releasing a Purrloin out onto the ground.

 _Fantastic, he wants to battle,_ Holly realized and groaned inwardly. Marina on the other hand, seemed raring to go and hopped off of Holly's head down onto the pavement.

"Leave it to me, Holly!" She called back. Holly sighed. If she was going to be a Trainer, then she had to get use to battling other Trainers and their Pokemon. After making sure her beanie was still on straight, she pointed towards the Purrloin. "Tackle it, head on!" She ordered. Marina surged forward as the cat-like Pokemon let out a low growl. Marina faltered for only a split second before ramming headfirst into it. N didn't appear too fazed, and instead of calling out an order, said, "Yes, more! Let us hear the voice of your Pokemon!" Holly's eyes flicked over to Cheren, who was trying to burst out in a fit of laughter. Holly couldn't blame him, but it ticked her off all the same.

"Scratch, Purrloin." Marina dodged out of the way just in time, much to Holly's relief. Holly issued her to tackle again, causing the Purrloin to be thrown backwards yet again, right into N's feet.

Cheren seemed to have got over his fit of giggles, and had begun making snarky remarks.

"Is that the only attack you know, Holly? God, so predictable." Holly wanted to reply, but she knew drifting her focus away from the battle would only end in her defeat. N called for his Pokemon to scratch again, this one being successful as it's claws raked over Marina's eyes. _Oh no!_ Holly tried to think of what to do next, but Marina already had a plan it seemed. She had little tears in her eyes, but she lunged forward at the Purrloin shouting, "This one is for Holly!" and sent it skidding across the ground, defeated.

"Yes! Good going Marina!" Holly yelled, picking up the tiny Pokemon and giving it a big hug. Marina giggled and hugged her back, crawling on top of her hat again. Cheren raised an eyebrow, but shrugged, while N already having called back his Pokemon, stood still.

"How interesting, I didn't think I'd hear a Pokemon say such a thing..." He mumbled. He stood, thinking for a second before saying to them, "As long as Pokemon are confined, they will never be truly free. They will never be able to become the perfect beings they are." He looked Holly dead in the eyes and said, "Pokemon are my friends, I _have_ to change the world for them." Without another word, he turned and began walking down the street until he was out of sight.

Cheren turned to Holly. "What a weirdo, just another Team Plasma fanatic thinking we're all demons for training Pokemon."

"Well, they're not entirely wrong Cheren." Holly argued. "I mean there are a lot of Pokemon out there that are-"

"Yeah, well I'm going on ahead." He interrupted. "Me and Bianca are going to the next city over, Striaton. There's a Gym Leader there, and what better way to start becoming Champion then to battle Leader after Leader." Without looking back, he left as well, leaving Holly and Marina alone in the plaza.

"Prick." Marina muttered. Holly raised a hand up and gently papped Marina's mouth.

"Language, Marina! Where did you even learn a word like that?" She asked. Marina gave a sheepish grin, but shrugged. Holly couldn't help but smile as she watched Cheren stroll down the sidewalk. "You're not wrong, though." With that, Holly walked off to explore the rest of the city, happy to finally be a fully registered Pokemon Trainer.

* * *

Accumula Town wasn't exactly the largest town in Unova, in fact it was considered one of the smallest, right next to Anville town. Within the hour, both Holly and Marina had explored the city to its limit, and were ready to move on.

"Not that different from Nuvema, really." Holly muttered. "Except this place has a Pokemon Center." Marina nodded and began playing with a strand of Holly's hair, twirling it around her paw. So after a final look over the town, they went through the small blue building that connected the town of Accumula to Route 2. Holly gave a wave to the guard who sat behind the counter, checking their phone. They waved back and said, "Careful out there, heard we got some rain inbound." Holly nodded in confirmation and walked out through the other side. Route 2 was a bit longer than Route 1, but was still considered an easily passable Route. Holly instantly noticed a large rocky formation on her left, that resulted in a small cliff face with various bumps along the top as it raised and lowered. There was pathway leading into the cliff face, Holly noticed, but it was covered by what appeared to be heavy amounts of rocks. Guess they weren't going that way.

"I spy with my little eye, something green." Marina said. They had begun playing 'I spy' when they were exploring Accumula as a way to pass the time, and the game had transitioned onto the next route. Holly raised and eyebrow and looked at the many trees littered around the route.

"Is it a pine tree?" She guessed.

"You got it!" Marina told her, giggling and squirming on top of her beanie. Holly shook her head and continued down the pathway through the route, giggling a tiny bit herself. It wasn't really funny, but the slightest hint of positivity between the two of them was all they needed in such a dark and confusing time in their lives. Holly ambled off down the dirt path, making sure not to walk too fast as Marina didn't have the tightest grip. She saw a girl around her age staring off into the sky a few yards away, who gave a friendly wave that Holly returned. She spoke as Holly walked past.

"Hey, be careful out here. Trainers are kinda adamant about battles around this area, and chances are they won't let you go without a battle." She warned. Holly thanked her, and gave another wave before continuing down the path. The dirt slowly began returning back to grass as they walked, and before long they were in grass up to Holly's knees. The air had returned to it's normal chill, as the sun had gone behind they greying clouds that had drifted in from the north. Marina began fiddling with Holly's hair again, and was watching the grass expectantly.

"Holly, where are we going to live?" It was a question Holly didn't quite know the answer to. She didn't know the first thing about living on her own, without the help of anyone else. Money was also an issue; potions and antidotes weren't free and would likely take up a good portion of any cash they scavenged, which meant that paying to stay in the Pokemon Center every night was going to become a bit of a rarity. She supposed getting a job might help, but who would hire a fifteen year old girl? The few jobs she could think of were too degrading for her to even consider taking, leaving her right back where she started. She hardly noticed where she was going at this point, and almost stepped on a Lillipup. Marina gave a warning cry, causing Holly to almost trip over the poor thing.

"Marina? What's wrong?!" Holly asked while holding her position of standing on one foot, and she looked up at her Pokemon pal in alarm. Marina pointed a stubby paw down at the snoozing Pokemon, which was almost invisible amongst the overflow of grass. Both of them let out a sigh of relief, and Holly lowered her other foot, which landed right on the Lillipup's tail. With a screech, it snapped awake and landed it's teeth right into Holly's ankle, causing her to let out a cry of both surprise and pain as she fell onto the grass. Marina fell off of the beanie and landed right on top of the Lillipup, forcing it to let go of the ankle. A scuffle ensued, followed by several yelps of pain from both Pokemon, along with some splashes of water. When Holly looked up, she saw Marina holding down the Lillipup with it's face against the dirt.

"You bit Holly you jerk!" She shouted accusingly. The Lillipup seemed rather calm despite the circumstances, and quietly replied, "Yes, but she happened to step on my tail, scrap. Surely such an observant Pokemon should have noticed that?" Marina let out as intimidating of a growl as she could muster, but it came out as a cough more than anything. Holly leaned over, and picked a squirming Marina up into her lap. She winced as her ankle rubbed against the dirt, but shushed Marina as she gave another attempt at growling.

"Marina, it's okay! I stepped on his tail, it's not his fault!" She rubbed her hand gently against Marina in an attempt to soothe her. The Lillipup shook the dirt from it's fur and bowed so low to the two of them that it's face almost dipped into the dirt again, and spoke with a formal tone in it's voice. "Greetings and apologies, young travelers. Tis with a heavy heart I confess that I have carelessly lashed out at you, in my surprise from being awoken in such a painful way." Holly giggled and shook her head, scooting closer to him.

"No, it's alright, I should've been more careful. Your tail isn't hurt too bad, is it?" She asked, leaning over to check on it. The Lillipup shook its head, and grunted, "A bruise at the very worst. Your ankle seems to have suffered a far more serious wound, are you alright?" The Lillipup leaned over and sniffed the wound tentatively before giving it a quick lick. Holly glanced down at her ankle which was now pouring out a steady amount of blood that had stained her shoe and the ground below it. She had almost forgotten about her foot, and was now painfully focused on it. Now that it was on her mind, she couldn't imagine being able to think about anything other than the indescribable fury shooting through her ankle. She didn't need to know a whole lot about healing injuries to know she needed to wash it immediately.

"I-is there a stream near here, Sir?" She asked, turning her direction towards the Lillipup. He shook his head, and continued licking around the wound. "Nay, Miss. Just trees and rocks." He informed her between licks. Marina was pacing back and forth nervously, occasionally eyeing Holly's ankle before continuing to walk. After a minute, the Lillipup stopped and took a step back and eyed his handiwork; the blood wasn't flowing nearly as fast, but was still leaking onto the ground none the less. The pain hadn't diminished much, and in Holly's eyes still didn't look too good.

"I'm sorry, Miss, but there is little more I can do." He apologized, giving a small bow of the head. Holly looked down at the blood, a sicked grimace upon her face when Marina suddenly snapped to attention, and rushed over flailing her stubby little paws.

"Holly, Holly! We don't need a stream, or a river! I'm a Water-Type Pokemon, remember?! I can use my own water to help you!" She told them. The Lillipup nodded, seemingly impressed while Holly clenched her face up and nodded quickly, stretching her leg out. Marina edged forward gingerly, reared her head back, and shot a jet stream of water right at her ankle. Holly let out a yelp of pain at the water blasted her foot and and clutched her injury. "Marina, Marina stop!" She screamed, tipping backwards and rolling around on her back. The Lillipup rushed forward yelling, "Too much, scrap!" The water slowed to a drip as Marina realized what had happened, and her face turned to that of panic. Holly still had her hands wrapped around the spot where she had been bitten, and was shaking slightly from the pain.

The Lillipup and Marina circled around Holly, both giving her an anxious look.

"Holly, are you okay?" Marina checked. Holly's only response was a groan through clenched teeth. The Lillpup shook his head and let out a sigh, turning to walk further into the line of trees. Marina noticed, and quickly turned to him.

"Hey, are you just going to leave her here? You did this to her and now you're just going to turn away?!" She shouted after him. He turned to her, his eyes narrowing.

"No, scrap, I'm going to get something that will actually help her." He curtly replied. "There be no way of helping her if we just sit and gawk like a couple of Slowpoke, eh?" Marina hesitated, and took another look her owner who was still seething in pain on the ground. "Of course," The Lillipup began, "I would want to go and get help for my Trainer, instead of just looking at them, but that's just me." This seemed to make up Marina's mind, who gave a quick hug to Holly before trampling off after the Lillipup.

"So, where exactly are we going, sir?" Marina asked once she had caught up. The Lillipup didn't immediately, and instead concentrated on sniffing the ground, muttering to himself. His head snapped to attention several times, but quickly returned back to sniffing and muttering. Marina was beginning to wonder if she had just wandered off with a senile Pokemon when he finally turned and addressed her.

"Scrap, we'll need Oran Berries, and my nose tells me some are located rather close by. My eyes are not what they used to be, so I ask that you search for them while I get everything else. We will then meet back at your Trainer, are we clear?" He instructed. Marina nodded, replying with, "Crystal!" before moving off to find the Berries. The Lillipup shook his head, chuckling despite the severity of the situation. Meanwhile Marina was searching from bush to bush in search of the Berries. She had never seen Oran Berries before, and therefore had no idea what exactly she was looking for. Marina wanted to go back and ask the Lillipup what one looked like, but she had no idea where he had went since they had split up, not to mention searching for him would only waste time.

Marina reached into a bush, only to yelp and leap back as her paw was raked by thorns. She let out a whine, and moved on to the next bush with leaves and twigs cracking under her feet. There weren't too many bushes around, Marina noticed, and the few she did see were covered in thorns. As she moved from bush to bush, the trees began thinning out leaving only two bushes left. _If it's not in one of these two,_ Marina considered, _then I'll go find Lillipup._ She reached forward into another another bush, and pulled out a pawful of leaves. She let out a curse, and stumbled on over to the final one. It certainly looked different from the others, as the leaves themselves had points sharper than a Serperior's razor leaf. Marina let out a sigh of defeat, there was no way she would be able to get the Oran Berries without getting her paw torn to shreds, much less keeping them intact. She took a step back.

But then she thought about Holly, lying on the grass with blood gushing out of her ankle, and the Lillipup counting on her to get the Berries. _This is partly my fault anyway,_ she remembered, _I have to at least try! People are counting on me!_ And with an audible cry of, "For Holly!" she plunged her paw into the thicket bush.

* * *

Holly sat against one of the many pine trees that dotted the route, resting her foot along the grass. The bleeding had stopped, but walking on it was definitely a no-go. The Lillipup had returned, and was carrying a large stick and a rock in his mouth, which he dropped next to Holly before looking back into the woods.

"The scrap hasn't returned yet?" He asked. Holly shook her head. The wind had picked up and had caused hundreds of pine needles to fall from their home down onto the grass of Route 2 below, where the Lillipup and Holly sat looking into the woods. Holly spotted a Purloin curled up in a tree, dozing away in the small amount of warmth the sun offered. The Lillipup remained focused on the woods. Neither of them spoke for few seconds, allowing the blowing of the wind to fill the silence, and despite the ever-growing pain in her right ankle, Holly found the it all to be rather soothing.

"You know, I feel truly awful about this." The Lillipup began. Holly turned her attention towards him, and he continued. "I usually don't talk to the Pokemon around here, group of lazy rascals if I've ever seen one, and mostly keep to myself. Humans like yourself occasionally come through here you know, but I've never full encountered one. In fact, the last time I actually talked with a human was a good seven years ago, if I'm counting right." He paused, and a dazed look washed over him, as though thinking back to times long gone. Holly stared at him, waiting to see if he would carry on, and after a few seconds he piped back up.

"So, Miss, I've decided that a proper form of repayment for not only causing you harm, but delaying your journey as well, I shall accompany you onward, if you'll have me." He offered. "Of course, you've no inclination to. I simply thought I would offer you the opportunity." He shrugged nonchalantly as though it was no big deal to him, but Holly sensed there was more to this than just repaying the favor. Something in his eyes gave it away, though she wasn't sure what.

"Well, I-" Holly had barely gotten a word out when a large crash along with a screech erupted from the woods. The Lillipup and Holly quickly turned facing the direction from which it came, only to be greeted by a small blueish object rolling towards them.

"Marina!" Holly called out in alarm. She jumped up to try and stop her, but fell back to the ground almost instantly due to her ankle. The tumbling mass continued towards them, and rolled right into the Lillipup. Both of them fell to the ground and let out a groan of pain. Marina got up first, and was covered from head to toe in scratches Holly noticed. She was about to ask what on earth happened when Marina held out a shaking paw towards Holly.

"Holly, I did it! I got you an Oran Berry!" She breathed. Holly slowly held out her own hand, and saw Marina drop a single Oran Berry into it. It didn't look too special to Holly, but the Lillipup's ears perked up as he regained his posture and ambled over to them. He nodded after giving it a quick sniff, congratulating Marina with a, "Good job, Scrap!" before gently picking it up in his teeth and motioning for Holly to stretch out her bloodied foot. She did so, and Marina edged closer with the Lillipup.

"I hate to ask you after all you've done, scrap, but I need you to _gently_ spray some water to clear away the blood. Can you do that?" He asked. Marina nodded and gingerly let out a slow drizzle onto Holly's foot, allowing the blood to flow off into the grass. Holly winced, but said nothing. The Lillipup then smushed the berry against the now relatively clean wound, smearing it with his paw. Holly's face turned from clenched to relieved in an instant, and soon a smile fitted across her face.

"I'm assuming it worked, Miss?" He checked. Holly nodded, and Marina gave a little hop joy only to stop and let out a little whine as she remembered her scratches. Holly noticed this and reached forward to put her in her lap, to which Marina happily obliged, even if her whole body stung when she moved. She was shaking slightly, and the Lillipup nudged the rock towards Holly's free hand. She picked it up and raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"That Oran Berry won't stop the bleeding, I'm afraid you'll have to cut some sort of cloth to wrap around it, likely part of your clothes. It's a small price to pay to pay to recover fast, however." He informed her. She nodded again in understanding, and sliced off a portion of her sleeve before wrapping it around her ankle tightly.

"There we go," She finished. "Thank you so very much, er..." She faltered, remembering she didn't know his name. The Lillipup straightened up proudly, and bowed his head as he introduced himself.

"Louis, Miss, just Louis, and you have no need to thank me. I was simply making up for my troubling you. And, about my offer, are you interested?" He asked again. Holly didn't even have to think about it, she nodded and gave a welcoming smile saying, "Of course, welcome to the team, Louis!" For the first time, she saw what looked a tear well up in his eye, but he blinked it away and returned the smile. He bowed again, and moved over to grab the stick with his mouth.

"Ish sho you can wok state." He told her, his voice muffled from behind the stick. Both Holly and Marina looked at each other before turning back to Louis and asking, "What?" in unison. Louis dropped the stick at Holly's hand and shook his head, repeating himself.

"It's so you can walk straight," He said. "You know, like a walking stick, or a cane of some sort." Holly gave a few feeble steps forward with the stick as support. It wasn't going to be easy, as each step still made her entire foot ache with pain, but it was better than before. At least she could actually move now. She managed to walk all the way to the another tree, with Marina and Louis cheering her on, before having to stop for a break. She sighed and slumped against the trunk of the tree when a thought occurred to her. How in the name of Arceus was she going to make it to the next town when walking a mere yard was more than she could handle. She had been a trainer for barely a day and was already ready to throw in the towel. She was beginning to consider the pros and cons of returning home when she heard a voice call out to her.

"Hey, you! What's up?" It was a boy with sleek black hair not unlike Cheren's, but unlike Cheren he had a glint in his eye and a wide grin that practically screamed "adventure". He was standing on the edge of a small cliff that lead down to the entrance of the route, with his arm erected and pointing at the clouded sky, he announced, "Radical Randy is about to do something absolutely radical. You should watch, and be dazzled by his performance." Holly and the others swapped looks, but before any of them could say anything the boy fell backwards, right off of the edge.

"Oh my god!" Holly rushed over to the small cliff side as fast as her leg would let her and peered over hesitantly, followed by Marina and Louis. The boy was sprawled out in an awkward position some ten feet below, his eyes clenched tight in what was obviously pain. Before Holly could ask if he was alright, he called up to her weakly saying, "Were you watching? Radical Randy just did the extreme. Radical Randy is also paying the consequences with what he thinks is a broken rib." He attempted to shift his body, but it only resulted in him letting out a pained groan. "Make that two." Holly gazed down in shock and horror for a second before asking if he wanted her to get help. Radical Randy shook his head.

"Radical Randy is going to play it off like a group of Watchog attacked him." He shut his eyes and took a deep breath before asking, "At least Radical Randy showed you a shortcut, right?" All three of them nodded. Radical Randy smiled and gave a feeble fist pump before laying back in the dirt. Louis shook his head and muttered about "today's youth" under his breath as the three of them continued their sluggish journey towards Striaton City. After a half hour of stumbling and taking breaks, they came across a girl who introduced herself as Mali.

"Oh man, I just love Pokemon!" She squealed. Her mouth gaped open as a thought crossed her mind and she suddenly asked, "Do you want to have a battle?!" Holly wanted to explain to her how her leg currently felt like it was being sliced open with a rusty gardening knife, but before she could Mali had already thrown out her Purrloin and was ordering it to attack. Holly sighed and nervously told Marina to use spray some water at it. Battles still worried her a great deal, and she wasn't exactly keen on having another, but Marina seemed raring to go, spraying a jet of water right in the Purrloin's face. Holly was briefly reminded of when she was little and played with her father's hose, putting her thumb over the hole to increase the pressure. The Purrloin slammed right into Mali's legs, nearly knocking her trainer over before cowering behind her. Both Holly and Louis let out a sigh of relief and hobbled over to Marina, who was beaming at the two of them while Mali dried off her Pokemon.

"I don't care if it is wet, it's still my cutesy-wutesy little Purrloin!" She said to nobody in particular. The Purrloin seemed to care a great deal, as Holly heard it mutter, "I hate you." to Marina before being carried off by Mali. Holly shook her head while Marina raised an eyebrow curiously, Louis however seemed more concerned about something else.

"Lass, I hate to be the rain on our parade, but we've a problem." He told them. Holly turned to see another cliff side, just like the one Radical Randy had hopped off of, except they were at the bottom of this one, rather than the top. Holly groaned inwardly, there was no way she would be able to climb it with the way her leg was, which meant they would have to go around and find the nearest hill. _But that's even worse,_ Holly thought. _We'll have to walk a while just to find it and even then we'd still have to go up it, which would only kill my leg even more._ She couldn't think of a better solution, and consulted with her Pokemon. Marina figured climbing the cliff face wouldn't do anything but result in hurting her leg even more, not to mention the possibility of falling. Louis agreed, noting that even if she did manage to scale it, her leg would probably give out soon after. Holly sighed, she guess they were going to have to take the longer path.

They continued eastwards, scouring through what seemed to be the densest forest Holly had ever seen, which wasn't saying much considering this was her first time out on her own. Marina took her place on Holly's hat, while Louis scouted ahead, attempting to move as many thickets and brambles out of the way as possible. Marina wanted to help too, feeling that sitting on top of Holly was surely putting more weight on her, but Holly managed to convince her that she had done enough for the day. Louis was putting up a valiant effort Holly noticed, as he was practically twenty feet ahead of her tearing down brambles that were twice his size with his own teeth. The sky, still cloudy, soon began to darken as the day started coming to it's end. The three of them began to worry, knowing full well that making it to Striaton before sun-down was impossible at this point.

Holly sighed as she slumped against a pine tree, tossing her walking stick aside. "I could've really gone for a nice warm bed tonight, too." She muttered. _Not that I'd be able to afford one_ , she remembered gloomily. The night was beginning to set in as the light faded behind the clouded sky, the forest around them slowly becoming nothing but a mass of shadows and shapes. Both Marina and Louis said nothing, but Marina gazed curiously at the walking stick for a minute, and then looked back and forth between the stick and Holly, who had begun to shiver from the wind.

"I got an idea!" She said loudly and suddenly, startling both Louis and Holly. Louis glared at her, muttering something about her having "no common sense whatsoever" but Marina paid no attention to him and instead rushed over to the stick. She squirted a bit of water into the dirt and dug out a small hole, then picked up the walking stick. It was a bit heavier than she realized, and toppled over into the dirt. Holly made to help her but she had already stood back up and was jamming the stick into the hole. Before Holly could ask what in the world she was doing, she started tugging at Holly's hoodie.

"Holly, I need your jacket, I can make something!" Without waiting for an answer she began reaching for Holly's sleeves.

"Okay, okay, wait for me to get it off first at least!" Holly told her. Louis nodded suddenly, a look of understanding washing over his face. "Good thinking scrap, good thinking." He said. As he said it, Holly understood too. Marina had taken the walking stick and used it as a prop for the hoodie, which she had hung over it and tied it over Holly's head, giving a cover and shielding them from the wind that had picked up once the sun had gone down.

Marina looked extremely pleased with herself, and Holly couldn't help but grin at her partner. The wind wasn't completely blocked out however, and small patches of it blew in on occasion. Holly was thankful for Marina's makeshift shelter, but now only had a cream colored tank-top to keep her upper body warm.

"Not that I'm ungrateful, Marina, but now I'm just in a tank-top, and it's well, kind of open." She admitted, realizing how self-conscious she was as she wrapped her arms around herself. Louis nodded in understanding and said, "Not to worry, Miss." before motioning for her to lay on her side. Holly complied, curling up into a ball against the tree. Louis then squirmed his way in-between her arms, followed by Marina who did the same. Holly understood instantly, they all kept warm by being so close, and also covered Holly's chest. A multitude of "Goodnight"s rang, and the three of them closed their eyes. Holly knew it was stupid, but being covered made her feel loads better, with her new friends' breathing slowing as the two of them fell asleep. Despite this, the pain of her leg mixed with her earlier feelings of doubt resulted in her staying awake far longer than she had hoped, images of the past few days flashing through her mind.

Was she doing the right thing, running away? She couldn't imagine staying with her dad and step-mother for another day, but at the same time the prospect of being a runaway seemed daunting and foolish now. Whether she liked it or not she was all on her own now, and going back was out of the picture for now. She let out a small sigh as the cold night's wind blew over her and snuggled closer to her Pokemon for warmth, deciding that such future internal qualms would have to wait until morning.

* * *

 **A.N: A question for you, the ones reading; do you prefer smaller chapters that come out faster, or longer ones that take a bit longer to come out? Do tell me be it in a message, or the ever sought after review. Thank you for reading, and if there was something you liked or disliked, please by all means, tell me.**


	4. Chapter 4: Turnabout

**Chapter Four: Turnabout**

 _"Life is tough my darling, but so are you." -_ Stephanie Bennett Henry

* * *

The next morning was certainly not an easy one to say the least. The wind had thankfully died down but in it's place had come even more clouds, and with those clouds came rain. It started as a sprinkle at first, but had soon formed into a complete downpour. Holly could practically hear Bianca saying, "Holly dear, you know you'll catch a cold if you stay out here too long!" Marina and Louis agreed with each other that their primary focus should be to get to Stiraton City as soon as possible. This normally shouldn't have taken too long, even with the rain and injured leg (which she had to admit, was feeling better) the problem was there seemed to be a large number of angry Pokemon on the trail today.

"Marina, don't move! No, just use tackle it!" Holly called through the sound of rain beating down around them. "Okay, good now use Wat- dodge!" Holly watched as a Patrat made to sink its overly-large tooth into her Pokemon, with Marina tumbling out of the way just in the nick of time. Holly let out a sigh of relief as she hobbled up a stone stairway, step by step, as she turned to look for Louis amidst the heavy rainfall. It was now pouring and Holly was constantly blinking or rubbing her eyes to keep the water out. She rubbed her eyes with her sleeve, not noticing a Patrat right in front of her. Upon seeing the small seething creature, memories of her previous encounters with Patrats resurfaced and she intuitively hit the Pokemon with her walking stick repeatedly.

 **Holly used Fury Swipes!**

She hardly had time to register the fact that she had just attacked a Pokemon when Louis appeared and sunk his teeth into the Patrat, finishing it off. He shook two small objects off of his back and looked at the fallen Pokemon.

"I bet its a lot better watching someone else be bitten than yourself." He muttered darkly to Holly, who barely heard him. Holly said nothing, instead inspecting the two items he had dropped. Even in the rain Holly recognized the small spherical shape of a poke ball, but she couldn't tell what the other was, it looked like a bottle of fabric softener to her. She pocketed both of them, to which Louis answered her unspoken question.

"Found 'em over there lying in the grass, and I got a good look of our surroundings!" He shouted in an attempt to be heard over the thunder that had just sounded. "Striation is close, I could see the top of one building over the trees, lass!" Holly nodded, and looked around for Marina as she limped down the stairs again, landing rather painfully on the grass after missing a step. She looked up in time just to see Marina headbutt another Patrat. "Marina!" Holly called, "We're going to Striaton, come on!" Marina nodded and bounded after them. Holly tore through the path as fast as she could, her leg sending shocks of pain through her with every step. Her leg wasn't hurting as bad as it was last night, but she still wasn't going as fast as she would have liked. The rain wasn't easing up either, if anything it was getting worse as Holly clumsily attempted to shield her eyes with her arm.

The rain was coming down in what felt like needles, and keeping her eyes open for more than a couple of seconds was simply not an option. Holly heard Louis struggle over something ahead and opened her eyes just in time to trip over a fallen tree branch. A groan escaped her lips as she landed face first into the dirt, and what she guessed was her walking stick bash against her forehead. Pain shot through her leg again, and she had a feeling her leg had landed on some sort of rock. Groggy, she got back to her feet and stumbled.

"Are you alright lass?" Louis called back. Holly managed a "Yes" through clenched teeth, and grabbed her walking stick to steady herself as best she could. In all honesty, Holly was not alright at all and wanted nothing more than to give up, lay down, and cry. Years of experience had rewarded her with the knowledge that crying in the rain was the best time to cry, since nobody would be able to tell. Just as she was about to, she felt a small slippery paw intertwine with her hand. This small action resonated with Holly, as something new began to bloom inside of her, something she hadn't known before. It wasn't warm, it was just there, something that coursed through her chest like water down a hill. Responsibility. Marina was relying on her, and Louis too to a degree, what would they do if she simply fell back into the mud and gave in? Giving up was not a choice, not right now at least.

Holly squeezed Marina's paw, and forced her legs to move forward. Each step stung like fury, but with her walking stick in hand, she continued with Marina and Louis down the muddy route path, until after what felt like an eternity of walking through frozen needles and even colder winds, they reached the entrance to Striaton City. Holly could not remember being more happy in her entire lifetime than when her feet hit the pavement of the city's roads. The winds still chilled her, and the rain still slapped her, but none of it seemed to matter now that she was out of that hellish route. Holly heard, rather than saw, Louis slip over to her.

"Lass, we've made it to the city! But what now?" He yelled. Holly's small surge of happiness deflated like a balloon. What was the difference between being wet and in pain on Route 2 than in the city? Though it was morning, the darkened clouds made it seem as though it was still night out, and the city itself seemed devoid of life minus the occasional car. Just as Holly began wondering the highs and lows of sheltering in a cardboard box, she heard the oh so familiar call of her name.

"Ooooh, Holly dear, is that you?" Bianca called to her. Holly gave a feeble wave to the silhouette of her friend who gave a frantic wave for her to come over. Holly looked both ways before crossing the hardly visible street, not that she was able to tell if a car was coming regardless, and limped over to where Bianca was standing under the overhang of a porch roof, and attempted to casually lean on the small stairway fence. Bianca looked absolutely appalled as soon as she caught sight of Holly and brought her up on the porch.

"Goodness Holly, whatever are you doing out in this storm? You'll catch a cold if you're not careful!" She warned. _Called it_ , Holly thought. Bianca quickly ushered Holly and her Pokemon inside, closing the door behind them. Holly was caught off guard by how nice the inside of it was, with ornate furniture decorated sparingly around the main room. She heard both of her Pokemon let out small gasps and came to the conclusion that none of them had ever been in such a high class room as the room they were in. The walls had a glossy look to them, with small strips of gold painted vertically every few feet that Holly didn't much care for. The rest of the room was filled with white pearly furniture that commonly had little golden ornaments decorated on the edges, and marble carvings practically littered across the place. It definitely was not to Holly's taste.

"It's a friend of the Professor's, they're letting us stay here for a while. They're gone until tomorrow you see." Bianca explained as she crossed over to Holly. "But that's not important, Holly, what happened to you? How long were you out in that rain?" She asked, a genuine look of concern in her eyes. Holly wasn't sure what to say, or where to begin, so she just said that they had gotten caught up in the storm. Bianca didn't look convinced, but didn't pursue the subject any further, much to Holly's relief. Instead, she offered Holly a meal and warm shower, assuring her that the proprietors wouldn't mind at all. Just as Holly was about to gratefully accept her offer, the door opened again and a weathered looking Cheren entered.

"By the Legendaries, Bianca, I thought there was going to be at least _something_ useful in there, but no!" He raved, hanging his teal jacket upon the coat hanger next to the door. "Just basic knowledge about abilities and evolution, stuff that any kindergarten student should know! I'd be surprised if-" He stopped and looked dead at Holly, contempt in his eyes. He sighed as soon as he caught sight of her and took off his glasses, wiping water off of them with his shirt.

"So," He began. "You're here." Holly didn't say anything, instead choosing to look at the floor. Cheren took this opportunity to do his usual degrading chatter. "Arceus, you're covered in mud. What, fancy pretending to be a Patrat or something?" He quipped. Holly could practically predict Bianca's usual response of "Cheren!" and wasn't disappointed. Cheren didn't let up though.

"Look at the mess you're making!" He pointed to where Holly was standing, a small puddle of mud having dripped from her feet and clothes. "I suppose you're used to everything around you being raggedy and filthy, but believe it or not some of us enjoy being clean and having a bit of dignity." Cheren was giving a look that strongly reminded Holly of her father.

"I- I didn't-" Holly began, but Cheren cut her off.

"You realize we don't own this place, surely?" He indicated to the sophisticated interior surrounding them. "We were graciously allowed to stay here since the owners know the Professor, and here you are waltzing in here dirtying the place!" His gaze flickered to Bianca. "You realize we'll have to clean this, right?" Bianca frowned, but said nothing. Cheren looked back to Holly, this time turning his attention to Louis and Marina. Marina looked startled, but Louis seemed determined to keep his eyes narrowed at Cheren.

"That's not even mentioning your Pokemon, they're just as dirty as you are, and even worse for wear. Did you, by chance, even bother taking them to a Pokemon Center? They look dead on their feet, I would've thought even you had the decency to check your Pokemon's well being!" He scoffed. "Actually there's a place perfect for you just down the street, its a trainer school. Probably should've studied up a bit before running away, but whatever." He walked past her and made his way to the stairwell, making sure to glare at Bianca on the way. He turned halfway upstairs to look back at Holly.

"Well, go on and make more of a mess then. And you," He pointed a finger a Bianca. "Can explain to Mr. and Mrs. Chelby why their house was covered in grime when they return." He pushed his glasses back up to his nose, and went upstairs. The room was quiet for a few seconds, with the only sound being their breathing and the pounding of rain against the windows.

"Holly, I know he sounded harsh, but he's jus-" Bianca began, but Holly shook her head.

"It's fine, don't worry about it." She murmured. Holly felt tears trickling down her face, she turned and made her way to the door, followed by Louis and Marina.

"But, Holly dear, where are you-" She asked while reaching a hand out towards Holly, who was already out the door.

"Sorry about the mess." She got out, and then promptly shut the door behind her. Holly wasn't quite sure where she was headed, but she ran nevertheless. She ran across the street, and along the sidewalk and in-between an alleyway, over a crosswalk and under a streetlight. In the back of her mind, she was thankful more people weren't out driving, or she likely would've been hit by a car. As her feet slapped against the pavement, she thought she heard what sounded like little paws behind her doing the same, and had a fleeting suspicion of who they belonged to. The rain pounded against her, blinding her, hurting her, and freezing her entire body overall.

Holly continued running all the way into another alley before slipping on the pavement and falling right onto an old nightstand someone threw out. Holly didn't bother getting up, instead she decided now was the perfect time to cry. Her leg felt like fire while the rest of her body was cold as ice and she could feel various bumps and bruises along her exposed arm and chest from the numerous times she had fallen in the past few days, counting the newest one from the nightstand. Her mother was gone, her father wanted nothing to do with her, and even her friends treated her with disdain and scorn. _I'm alone_ , she realized. It was like a blanket of agony had thrown itself over her and trapped her in it's grasp, swallowing her until it was the only thing she felt.

"Nobody wants me." She sobbed out loud, tears and rainwater mixing together as both flowed down her face. Had she not been so preoccupied with crying, she probably would've jumped more when a tiny white head peeked out from an old television in front of her. Marina waddled over to her, almost cautiously. Holly figured she was probably about to hug her, when instead Marina looked right into Holly's tear-filled eyes and spoke with such a fierceness and determination, that Holly stopped crying momentarily.

"I want you." She said. It was the defiance in her voice that shook Holly the most, as though she were standing up to an entire pack of Garchomps and proving to them all she would not back down. Holly couldn't hardly see, but was able to make out a sitting Louis a few feet behind Marina, Holly's walking stick clamped in his mouth. It was that feeling she had felt earlier, responsibility, except that it felt different this time. She thought that as the trainer, she was supposed to always be strong and be there for her Pokemon to rely on, but now she considered the possibility that maybe it didn't always work that way. Maybe, they could all rely on each other. It didn't make everything magically better, but it gave Holly a bit of strength for the time being. She knew it wouldn't be long before she crumbled again, but as she had thought earlier, giving up was not an option yet.

Holly attempted to wipe the tears from her eyes, forgetting it didn't matter since rain was splattering against her, and gave what she hoped was an admirable nod. Louis padded over and gave her the stick he held in his mouth, to which she used to stand back up. Holly managed to sputter a quiet "Sorry guys." to which her Pokemon said nothing, but she could've sworn she noticed the two of them stick closer to her afterwords. As Holly stumbled out of the alley, she was able to make out the neon lighting of the building across from her, despite the constant downpour. A bright blue fluorescent pokeball symbol hung from the second floor, creating a shining light that stood as a beacon of sorts to any who happened to pass by. Holly glanced down at her two companions and nodded to herself, making her way across the street to the glowing center.

The inside of the Pokemon Center seemed like a different world to Holly when she stepped inside. The grey and fuzzy effect caused by the rain was gone, happily replaced by the luminous and sharp interior of the Pokemon Center. While it did hurt her eyes a tiny bit, she was thankful for the slightest bit of safety from the rain's constant downfall. However, and all three of them noticed this instantly, it was not the least bit warmer inside. By some cruel twist of fate, someone had turned the air conditioner down to near freezing temperatures, which was currently being fixed by one of the Center's staff.

"Work, damn you!" The nurse shouted, giving the AC a fierce kick with her heel. "Oh, when I found out who turned this down to forty degrees I'm going to shove my high heels so far up their-" She stopped, having realized she was no longer alone. "Oh!" She exclaimed, running over behind the counter at the far end of the room. She straightened her dress out and gave a tiny bow of the head once Holly approached.

"Hello, and welcome to the Striaton City Pokemon Center! I'm assuming you have some Pokemon in need of assistance?" She guessed. Holly nodded shyly and helped Louis and Marina up onto the counter, giving a brief explanation as to what the two of them had been through. The nurse inspected the both of them intently for a good few minutes, occasionally mumbling her findings such as "That's a scratch there." or "Big bruise on the head if I've ever seen one." making Holly feel a tad bit awkward as she looked at the ground, or shuffled her feet in silence. After a few minutes the nurse nodded glanced up at Holly.

"Well, nothing too serious. Minor welts and the like, but your Oshawott has nasty scratch along her forepaw that might need a bit of medical finesse. I'll be just a minute, Miss, if you want to take a seat while you wait." She pointed at one of the many couches and tables that were in the Center's lobby and pulled a small metal cart from behind the counter, placing Marina's Pokemon on it. Marina looked a bit scared of being separated from her trainer, Louis indifferent, but Holly gave a little wave to them as the cart disappeared behind a set of doors, and out of Holly's sight. Holly stood at the counter even after the they vanished from view for a few seconds, unsure of what to do with herself. She eventually walked over to one of the tables adjacent to the counter and sat herself down in a chair, secretly glad to finally be able to rest her leg.

On one hand, Holly figured it had to be getting better, as there were times when she completely forgot about the pain. Other times though, she wasn't so sure, for she often found herself wondering if she had inadvertently stepped into a pile of razor blades, such was the pain. She hadn't checked it to see if it was infected or anything, something inside her made her squeamish every time she even considered it, but she figured she would have to do something about it soon. Perhaps if she was lucky, she would be able to scrounge around for enough cash to buy some better bandages, as her ripped hoodie sleeve probably needed to be swapped out for something a bit more practical.

She glanced up at the sopping wet beanie slumped on her head and squeezed it in-between her hands in an attempt to rid it of water. The thoughts from earlier made a reappearance, with her considering if she was truly on the right path, or if she even had the faintest idea of what she was doing. She hated to admit it, but she thought Cheren was right. Holly was not fit to be a trainer out on a journey, at least not a trainer with privileges that Bianca and Cheren had. She hated the very fact that he had been right about her needing to go to the Cetner, and even more so that she listened to him, but she couldn't let her Pokemon suffer due to her own self arrogance. Holly ran a hand through her strawberry-blonde hair, and sighed, deciding to look up at the Center's television hung over the doorway in hopes of distraction.

It was currently on the local news channel, where a woman in a fancy suit with huge eyelashes was talking about some incident that happened a few towns over. Holly liked her hair.

"... and in recent news it appears that a child has viciously attacked her own parents in a blind fit of rage, leaving a trail of misery and confusion in her wake. More on that at three." The reporter announced. Holly shivered, silently thankful that while her mother may not have always been around, or sober for that matter, she at least did her best to raise Holly to be as humble and polite as she could manage. Before Holly could dwell on the fact any longer, the doors behind the counter slid open and the nurse from earlier walked out.

Holly looked up expecting to see her Pokemon, but the nurse was alone and carrying a small tray with mugs. She yawned and sat in the seat opposite of Holly, taking off her nursing cap and setting it on the table along with the tray before rubbing her eyes.

"You wouldn't believe the amount of sleep I've lost in the last week from doing this job, I'd kill for this to be a cup of coffee but we seem to have an alarming amount of hot chocolate instead of any coffee beans around so it'll have to do I guess." She sighed and took a deep gulp from her mug, pushing the tray forward towards Holly a bit. Holly took this as a sign as to take the other mug and did so, taking a tiny sip of the drink. She gave a quiet "Thank you" to the nurse, who nodded while still drinking her mug.

"So technically I'm only supposed to offer patrons who rent a room a mug, but you look like you could use a bit of a pick-me-up, no offense." She added, glancing at Holly who nodded appreciatively. The nurse waited to see if Holly was going to add any input, but when it was clear she wasn't decided to continue the conversation.

"Your Pokemon will be fine, just having one of the Center's Audino patch them up. Gives me a bit of break time, you know?" She put her mug on the table gently and gazed up at the TV, turning back to Holly after a few seconds. Holly finally looked up to get a good look at the nurse, surprised by what she saw. She couldn't have been more than a few years older than Holly with short blonde hair that barely reached her electric blue eyes, her smile seemingly polite but with a hint of mischievousness tucked away inside. Her nurse's uniform also happened to be a bit small on her but if it made her uncomfortable at all she didn't show it, instead she looked at her now empty mug and sighed with a look of defeat on her face. She glanced around as though to make sure they weren't being watched and grabbed a can from the inside of uniform, an energy drink of sorts. She gave Holly a wink and cracked it open.

"Not supposed to be caught with these, the higher ups don't think it's professional." She took a big gulp of it, letting out a sigh of contentment afterwards. "Much better." She said. She stuck out her arm and at first Holly thought she was about to grab her. To her relief, the nurse was only trying to shake hands, to which Holly happily complied.

"Call me Ellie." She told Holly. Holly managed to mumble out her own name, but wasn't able to meet Ellie's eyes. She didn't seem to mind, and flicked the conversation over to Pokemon. "So, you're a trainer obviously. Guess that means you're here to challenge the Striaton Gym Leaders, right? Pit your Oshawott against Cilan's lot?" She guessed. "He's a grass-specialist, just so you know." Holly shook her head, she didn't know a whole lot about the 'Champion Challenge' as the media called it. The most she knew was that involved Gym Leaders and a group of special trainers called the 'Elite Four', but as to the finer aspects she was clueless. Ellie looked moderately surprised at her response.

"Is that so? I'd say nine out of ten trainers that pass through here are challengers, guess you're the one that isn't huh?" She asked. Holly nodded again. Ellie kept the conversation going by talking about the weather, or her annoying coworkers, or occasionally trying to get Holly to talk about her own life. She explained to Holly that this was just a side-job to bring in a bit of extra cash. She admitted that learning a bit about medicine certainly had it's perks though. Holly meanwhile would sip on her mug of hot chocolate and give short responses or nods. She had a bad case of nerves whenever talking to someone new, especially someone who was actually nice to her, though she tried her best to not to seem uninterested and would every now and again mention how she had just gone through Route 2, or how she had injured her leg. At mention of this, Ellie looked under the table with grimace.

"Ouch, that looks like it hurt. I'm guessing you've not changed the bandages? As good as a hoodie sleeve may be, I'd recommend some gauze. You can get some down at the Poke-Mart probably, just make sure to keep it clean with water and to keep it covered as much as possible." She suggested, "Most people think you should keep it uncovered because it needs fresh air, but that's just an old wives-tale." Holly nodded, but quietly admitted she didn't actually have any money to buy gauze. Holly felt her cheeks redden with embarrassment and lowered her head, but Ellie put a hand on her chin as though concentrating hard on something. After a few seconds she seemed to have made up her mind and pulled out her wallet, dropping a bit of money on the table.

"There, consider this my good deed for the day. No, take it." She insisted as Holly made to shake her head. "I'm not about to see you go out again into that storm with the possibility of a wound like that getting infected." Holly tried to decline the offer, but Ellie simply refused to take no for an answer. "Look," She said. "If it means that much to you then go take on the Striaton Gym Leaders, train over in the Dreamyard if you'd like. You get money for winning, you know. Shouldn't be too hard if you know what you're doing, and hey, maybe you'll get that taste for battle." She pointed a hand lazily at a poster Holly had noticed pinned up on the window under the television while taking a big chug of her energy drink.

The poster showed some building Holly had never seen before, with "Challenge the Pokemon League!" in big letters above it.

 **"Take on the challenge that will forge your way to victory! Take on the Gym Leaders of Unova and make your way through Victory Road where if you have the fighting spirit for it, then you'll be lead through the Pokemon League where the most daunting and resilient trainers await you. Think you have what it takes? Challenge your nearest Gym today!"** The top portion read. Below there was a smaller section where there was a picture of what looked like a cruise ship with big money symbols over it. It read, **"Also, until June of next year the Pokemon League is giving new champions a luxurious trip to the Alolan Islands along with a big cash prize! For more details check with your nearest Pokemon Center!"**

Holly wondered just exactly how much a 'big cash prize' was, but had to guess it was more than she could possibly dream of. While slightly tempting, Holly was certainly no professional battler. She had trouble just keeping herself alive against wild Pokemon, much less against what sounded like the best of the best in the whole region. Ellie was looking expectantly at Holly, who only shrugged and said she would think about it. Ellie seemed a bit disappointed, but said that it was Holly's choice after all. She stood up from the table and stretched, tossing her empty can into a nearby disposal bin and picking up their mugs. She went through the doors behind the Center's counter and returned a short while later with Louis and Marina. Marina squirmed off of the cart and practically leapt into Holly's arms. Louis muttered something about how younger Pokemon knew nothing about patience, but seemed happy to see Holly too.

"Well Holly, whatever you do, good luck out there. Feel free to stop by again if you need your Pokemon checked, or if you just want to chat. I'll probably be here if I don't get fired for falling asleep." She joked as she went back to the counter, fixing her nurse's cap. Holly nodded, giving a wave of her hand and a small but meaningful "Thank you" before exiting the Pokemon Center and being thrust back into the wet and windy outside world. In the short time they had been inside, the rain had let up by a small amount, and while it was still coming down in gallons Holly found herself thankful that she at least could see where she was going, to some extent. Marina winced as the cold overtook her and huddled closer to Holly's leg with Louis not far behind.

"Well, she was nice." Marina stated. "Very." Holly agreed. Together, they crossed the street back towards the alley where Holly had fallen, instead turning to where a television shop sat with a glass awning over the window. The three of them stopped under it as they got their bearings, Marina turning to watch the TVs on display while Louis turned to Holly.

"Well then, are you going to do it?" He asked. Holly didn't need to ask what he meant, and shook her head. Taking on the League Challenge was for people who spent their entire lives battling, people who lived and breathed battles. She didn't want to take on the region, she just wanted to survive. Louis didn't seem impressed with her answer and narrowed his eyes. "There is no way in Arceus' blue earth we are ever going to manage out here if you don't find some source of income, Lass, and this is the answer." He said through his teeth. Holly thought of a few jobs someone her age could get in Unova without putting her Pokemon at risk, most of them both embarrassing and degrading in several regards. She shook those images out of her mind and returned to what had been tugging at her for the past few days.

She had to go back home. She was out of her mind thinking she could survive on the streets, with no safe source of income and her leg already in injured (she silently reminded herself to swap out the bandages as Ellie had suggested) she was simply asking for failure. Running away from home had been a blind attempt at taking control of her own life fueled by raging emotions that she would have done well to suppress. She had been an idiot to run away without so much as an idea on what to do, just grabbing Marina and running off into the darkness. Maybe, she thought, if she was lucky she could convince her father into keeping her Pokemon, even if they had to stay outside.

 _He'd never agree to that,_ a small part of her brain told her.

Well even so, at least there she wouldn't have to worry about dying from sickness in some ditch along an unseen route number. There was a chance over time that she might even be able to change her father, of course it would take probably years but surely it was better than the alternative? Yes, it was all set out. She wasn't sure how she was going to break it to Marina and Louis, but she was sure they would understand and they'd find all way to stay together, there simply was not other option.

"Holly," Marina called over the combined sound of the rain and the televisions, "Holly come look." Holly was snatched back to reality abruptly, not realizing she had been in a bit of a daze while watched by a still nerved looking Louis. Making sure not to catch his eye, they both turned to the television where a familiar sight greeted Holly.

"For those just joining us, we at News Channel 13 are interviewing the parents who were attacked by their own child. Now sir, could you tell us how the attack happened?" The reporter with big eyelashes Holly had seen earlier was interviewing a frazzled middle-aged man with long brown hair mixed with a subdued amount of facial hair growing on his face. His eyes were sorrowful, yet something deeper laid inside them, something almost akin to a gleam. He gave frail sniff and nodded, wiping what Holly supposed was suppose to be a tear from his eye.

"Yes, I can Judy. It was about two days ago, you see, and me and my wife here were having a nice evening at home, just got done eating dinner, when our kid came inside." He began. The reporter, Judy, brought the microphone back to herself as she asked, "And what was your child's name again, sir?"

"Holly." He told her, using the pause to wipe more tears from his eye. Holly stared back at her own father, plastered upon the TV screen as though he was a celebrity, or a survivor of some awful calamity. She couldn't bring herself to speak, her only reaction her mouth gaping open.

"Right, please, carry on Arin." Judy said. Holly's father complied.

"Well, I asked her where she had been and she just gave me this look that would've scared a full grown Conkeldurr half to death. It turned out she had brought home a Pokemon, and the thing was clearly aggressive, it was practically foaming at the mouth." He mimicked foam spilling from the mouth with his hands. "I think it was stolen, though, cause it had a collar around it's neck. And we've told her before that she needs to check with us before bringing in random Pokemon, so we tried to tell her to take it outside, polite as can be, and she loses it. She starts screaming at us, saying we never do anything she wants and all this." Judy was completely invested in every word that spilled from his mouth, and eagerly insisted he continue.

"And then what?"

"She points at me and my wife, and tells the thing to get us. It leaps over the table, teeth reared back and everything, and almost took a bite out of my wife." He indicated to someone standing behind him, and Holly noticed her stepmother nodding to every word. Arin pointed up to right above his eye where it looked like someone had attempted to stitch together a wound rather hurriedly and without much effort.

Judy turned the microphone over to Susan and asked, "Is this all true, Miss?" Susan nodded and began doing the same thing Holly's father had done, and wiped her eyes which had filled with tears.

"My daughter, she's never been quite right in the head you see. When she was little she used to go out and grab little Pidoves and would just do the most awful things to them, cutting them open or beating them with rocks and such. We knew she had issues, but to go and attack her own mother and father? I'm sorry, I just..." And she turned, sobbing into Arin's jacket, who patted her head comfortingly. Judy turned back to Arin, who continued his story.

"Once my wife managed to get the Pokemon off of me-" He began, but Judy interrupted again.

"What Pokemon was it, so people can be on the lookout?" She asked.

"Oh, an Oshawott. Yeah, so once she'd gotten it off of me I got up and tried to get to the bathroom to get the blood out of my eyes. Soon as I was able to see again, I looked up and saw my daughter grabbing my wallet from off the kitchen counter, and then she ran out the door." He finished dramatically. Judy seemed completely blown away and pushed the mic closer to Arin and said, "Now, we've heard from a neighbor that his daughter disappeared on the same night?"

"Yeah, my pal Anthony says he thinks Holly forced his daughter Bianca to go with her, but we're not sure why." He stated. Judy nodded and turned back to face the cameras.

"Now, law enforcement is saying to be on the lookout for the young teenager who is expected to still be in the surrounding area. We should have a picture on the screen any moment now-" As if on cue, a picture of Holly reflected across from her. Holly felt her own hands shaking, and what felt like a pit swirling inside of her stomach. Judy finished off the segment by saying if anyone knew the whereabouts of either Holly or Bianca to contact local authorities immediately, and for viewers to make sure they "hugged their children tonight". Holly didn't like her hair much anymore.

The rain continued to drum down around them, but a silence seemed to hold the three of them even after the program shifted until Louis finally muttered, "Pah, he'd best hope I never meet him, I'll give him more than just a scratch across the forehead." Marina turned to look back at him and asked, "You don't believe them, then?" Louis shook his head, giving a bark-like laugh.

"Scrap, the Stoutland line has a very good sense of when someone is lying. It's all in the eyes, that's where you really see what someone is like." He explained. "Even his wife looked shifty to me. I'm guessing that wasn't your mother then, Lass?" Both he and Marina looked up at Holly, but she didn't reply. Her insides were filled with so many different emotions, none of which were positive, and was hardly even aware of what she was doing. She told her Pokemon to follow after her, but instead of going in the direction of where she thought Route 2 was and heading home, she followed a beaten looking path a short bit away from the TV store. There was a sign along the path with which someone had carved the word "Dreamyard" crudely into it.

Marina and Louis clambered after her, with Louis yelling, "Lass, where are we going?" Holly figured he already knew, but that he wanted to hear it anyway. Despite the feelings storming about inside her, she tried to keep her voice as steady as possible as she said, "To train of course." She couldn't tell because of the rain, but she could have sworn she saw Louis smiling when she looked back. _Well,_ she thought, _at least someone is happy with my choice._

* * *

Holly wasn't exactly sure what she expected from the Dreamyard, a place of peace and restoration of some sort or somewhere nice and warm, things more commonly associated with dreams. What she was met with with was a secret grove of sorts within the forests surrounding the town, that held an abandoned laboratory from years long forgotten. The walls had crumbled leaving so many holes and openings that Holly was surprised it could still stand. Steel beams stuck out from the collapsed floors and ceilings, mixed with ominous looking barrels scattered throughout the building along with large patches of overflowing grass, giving the ruin an even more decrepit sort of look.

The rain had let up a fair amount by the time Holly found a dry enough spot to rest. It was a bit cramped as it was under a stairwell, but it was step above the ground floor meaning they wouldn't be laying in a puddle at least. The three of them huddled together for warmth as Holly confided in them her plan. She explained to a smirking Louis and confused Marina that they had no choice but to take on the Pokemon League if they wanted to make it to next week. She told them it was a last ditch effort to keep them from starving, and if they were lucky, they might just not end up as food for Murkrow.

"Hmph, well I guess you've got a bit of street-smarts in your head after all, Lass." Louis told her. Holly said nothing and looked to Marina. It was her reaction she was worried about the most. If Holly, a fully fledged teenager, was having trouble not to break down and cry from everything going on, she couldn't imagine how a Pokemon who had only been out of it's ball for a few days was feeling. Marina however looked at Holly straight in the eyes and nodded, telling her she understood. Holly realized that she may not have given Marina enough credit, ready to take on the most arduous challenges in the region just for Holly's sake. Holly immediately felt a rush of affection for the both of her companions.

The next two days were probably the most exhausting and tedious days any of them had experienced. After another night of nearly freezing (Holly had learned that that pulling her beanie over her face was an excellent tactic for staying somewhat warm) and growling stomachs that were only quenched by a stale bag of crackers, and Louis and Marina constantly bickering, they were greeted with the daunting task of training. Thankfully there were plenty of Pokemon around the area to practice on, but an issue cropped up before they had finished their second battle.

"I- I'm so sorry, I'm sure he was just being protective!" Holly tried to explain to a rather agitated hiker. The hiker had mistaken Marina for his own Oshawott and had tried to walk off with her until Louis gave him a nasty bite on the finger. He accused Holly of being an uncultured Grumpig, and trudged off into the woods sucking on his middle finger as though his life depended on it. Holly, knowing the pain of being bitten by Louis, sympathized with him slightly. She scolded Louis, telling him to just get her next time something serious happened. Marina, however, became significantly warmer towards Louis from that point on. This did bring up a prominent issue however, one that Holly had an answer for.

"Here," Holly pulled the violet cloth her mother had wrapped around Marina's pokeball and fashioned it into a bandanna she tightened around Marina's neck. "This way, we'll know which one is you, and if someone tries to pick you up it means they're probably trying to steal you, and Louis can bite them." She told her. Marina seemed absolutely awed and clapped her hands in delight, while Louis gave a gruff nod at the both of them. Holly also decided to use the spare pokeball they had found to house Louis, but she still didn't know what the strange spray-bottle was used for. She reserved to keeping it in her hoodie pocket, and decided she would find a use for it eventually.

The rest of that day was given to attacking any Pokemon that wandered by, and the occasional one or two trainers that wandered through the Dreamyard. By nightfall, the three of them were ready to drop, Holly more so because of the pain in her leg than from training. She was sure she needed to get some fresh bandages, as her makeshift one wasn't exactly looking like it was in the best condition. The tingling feeling mixed with the occasional flashes of pain worried her that it might have become infected, and was too worried to actually unravel the sleeve and see. She wasn't even sure what an infected wound would look like, but she was sure it wouldn't be reassuring.

The Dreamyard, Holly noticed, was a mysterious place. A few times she felt as though someone was watching her, but when she turned to look she caught sight of neither person nor Pokmeon. Other times she felt a curious, but loving presence that reminded her of her mother, wash over her as though someone was there. She was sure there was someone else with them, but as Holly couldn't figure out what, she decided to simply let it slide and let the friendly presence be.

Meanwhile, the nights were getting colder with each passing day. They were able to stop most of the wind by hiding out beneath their stairwell, but that still left the already icy air to fend off against throughout the night. It didn't help that she was a sleeve short leaving her arm to the mercy of the elements, and was sure she'd have a cold by the morning. She was quite thankful and touched that her Pokemon were willing to stay out of their pokeballs and cuddle up with Holly to ensure they had the slightest bit of warmth. By the next morning, she knew she had to do something; there was simply no way for her to sleep out in the cold without suffering from some type of illness. The opportunity arrived just as she wandered out with her Pokemon to continue their rigid training.

"Oh that is it, fine! You want to act like a little jackass, you can go be one on your own!" A voice called. The three of them looked to see a woman arguing with a Pansear who didn't seem at all bothered by her words. He said something which the others couldn't hear, and the woman's voice rose up again.

"I don't know what you said, but I bet it was something nasty, wasn't it? You ungrateful little bas-" She stopped as the Pokemon scoffed, and turned heel. This only infuriated the lady even more, who started screaming profanities at the Pansear while waving her arms frantically. Being the only person in the vicinity, Holly asked the woman if she was alright. It took a few seconds to register that Holly was speaking to her and the woman briskly replied with, "What? Oh, yeah, just..."

The Pansear had made it's way behind Holly with his paws behind his head and gazing lazily back at the woman, who Holly noticed had a box in her hands with the two other elemental monkeys cowering inside. The woman pointed at the Pansear scathingly and spoke so fast Holly saw the spit fly out of her mouth.

"That! That little creature has done nothing but spread discord and chaos among my party, and I'm finished!" She screeched. Her beady eyes flew up to Holly accusingly as though Holly had suggested the Pansear had every right to ruin her team. She looked at Holly and then at the Pansear, and then at Holly's other Pokemon, then back at Holly. She asked, "You want him? Take him! Even out your team if you're going against Chile and his siblings, just get him away from me!" And with a final rude gesture at the Pansear, she stomped off, with the two other Pokemon in her box poking their heads from the top of the box and sticking their tongues out at him. The Pansear smiled nonchalantly and gave a little wave before turning up to Holly expectantly.

Holly, who felt she hadn't been given a choice in the matter whatsoever looked down at the fire Pokemon anxiously. From what she had heard, the Pansear was probably going to be far more trouble than he was worth, and with a heavy heart prepared to tell him that she wasn't taking him in.

"So, you're the Pokemon that was giving that lady so much trouble?" She asked. The Pansear cocked and eyebrow.

"So, you're the girl that attacked her parents and tortured Pidoves when you were little?" He checked, an evident tone of sass in his voice. Holly's eyes widened and she quickly shook her head.

"No, you shouldn't believe everything you hear!" She told him. The Pansear grinned and said, "Likewise." Holly heard Louis snort from behind her, and flashed him what she hoped was a menacing glare. Holly turned back towards the Pokemon and knelt down so she could look him in the eyes.

"Look, Pansear, if you were so much trouble that the lady wanted to get rid of you, what makes you think we can put up with you?" She questioned, thinking of all the sadistic things the fiery Pokemon could have done. He waved a paw casually as though it was of little concern, saying, "First off honey, call me Creevy. Second, that little scandal you heard was because lil' miss Prissy the Pansage has been fiddling around with Coup, he's the Panpour by the way, and has been using him as a way to try to get me all jealous. Well let me tell you I told her that if she was as low as to try and make me jealous by getting all up on Coup, then I didn't want to deal with a girl like that anyway, and I don't even swing that-" Creevy paused, as Louis had stifled a laugh after looking at Holly's incredulous look.

"So, you're not dangerous or anything, you're just..." She thought aimlessly for an appropriate word to fit the Pansear in front of her.

"Sassy, charming, incredibly attractive? Oh, you better believe it hon." He retorted, snapping his paws. "So, am I part of your little family here now, or do I need to do some kind of ritual?" Holly glanced unconvincingly at Marina and Louis, and then back at Creevy.

"Do you even want to join us? I mean, we're barely scraping by on food and we have a Gym Battle coming up, which could be dangerous and I wouldn't-" She began, but Creevy's ears perked up at the words "Gym Battle".

"Oh my Arceus, you're going against the Gym Leaders? Oh it is about time something interesting sprang up around here." He beamed. "I'm in."

Holly and Marina looked astonished. "Just like that?" They asked.

"Just like that!" He fired back. "Judging by your little party here, I'd say you could use my help anyway. Pretty-boy Cilan will wipe the floor with your Oshawott-" Marina butted in with a "Hey!" but Creevy continued on. "-so I'd say this works best for all of us, right girl? You get a Fire Type and I get to do something other than lounge around in that stupid box all day." He said, a sort of finality in his voice. Holly swapped looks with her other two companions to see if they had any objections. Apparently they didn't, and Holly couldn't think of any reasons not to let him join.

"Well, alright then. Welcome to the team, Creevy. Did I get that right?" She asked. The Pansear nodded and followed them back to their tiny base of operations under the stairs, where Holly dished out the remaining crackers. She noticed Creevy shivering as he bit into his, but he said nothing. The others finished their measly rations and reluctantly padded out back into the grassy openings sprawled around the Dreamyard.

The rest of day was, again, devoted to training and testing how well Creevy held up with the rest of the team. Much to everyone's surprise he had as much bite as he did bark. He was much faster and agile than the others and even sent a Purrloin crying with several swipes to it's nose. Only when Holly told him to use "Incinerate" did she realize the true potential of his power, as he burnt several clusters of bushes and trees on fire. It took Marina a few good minutes before she was able to put out the burning bush.

After narrowly avoiding causing a forest fire, Holly decided that she had pretty much reached her limit and, thankful for an excuse to get off her leg, suggested they turn in for the night. The air had already begun it's decline into the lower temperatures and Holly had come up with the genius plan that if she fell asleep earlier, then she wouldn't be awake to deal with the freezing temperatures. As they crowded around their usual sleeping spot Holly couldn't help but notice Creevy staring at them in slight disbelief.

"Do you guys not know how to make a fire?" He asked. All three of them shook their heads.

"I don't even think we would have the rig- wait! Can you...?" Holly stopped mid-sentence as Creevy grinned and nodded, running off into the light of the setting sun. Within minutes he came back with his paws full of sticks and the driest leaves he could scavenge and dropped them onto the concrete floor. With a flick of his tail, which emitted a few sparks as he did so, a small fire soon crackling and ensnaring them all in it's warmth. Holly and Marina let out a small cry of surprise mingled with relief followed by a grunt of acknowledgement from Louis as they felt a warmth they hadn't felt in several days. Creevy gave a bow and huddled closer to them, and soon they were all recounting tales from their past with Holly being the limelight. She told Creevy and Louis how her mother had overdosed and how she had to take a train to her father's with a snooty businessman and how her father and stepmother weren't exactly the nicest people and everything in-between.

Soon they were drifting off into slumber, with the fire surrounding them in it's warmth as each of their eyes closed and their voices slowly came to a halt, leaving only the sound of their gentle snores and the occasional crack of the fire to disturb the quiet. For the first time in what felt like forever, everyone around the fire felt significantly happier than they had in a long time.

* * *

By the next morning, spirits were higher than they had been in a while and Holly had to practically remind herself not to get too excited, as failure was still a probability. She could not help be feel slightly elated though as Creevy lead them up to the towering restaurant in the northern part of Striaton City. According to him, the building had just been bought a year or so back and transformed into a popular restaurant that people from all across the region came to eat at, for the three Gym Leaders' food was as renowned as their skills in battle. This didn't exactly reassure Holly, but thankfully he confirmed that trainers only had to battle one of the brothers.

The group took a look at the restaurant as they reached it's steps, and they couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated, all except for Creevy who sauntered up the steps eagerly. Shadows of doubt began to creep upon Holly before she had even entered the building, but continued forward through the large oak doors and into whatever awaited them.

Holly had hardly stepped inside when a waitress in an adorable orange dress swerved up to her with a notepad in hand.

"Hi, here for a battle or for a meal? If it's the latter we're having a special on all sea-food for the rest of the day." She told them. Her voice had a heavy Unovan accent and her smile made Holly blink a few times from how bright it was. Holly stuttered for a second before getting out that she was here to challenge the Gym. The waitress nodded and scribbled something on her notepad before zooming off on what Holly realized were skates and was shouting to another waiter with bright orange hair who had just walked out of the kitchen, "Willis, got a cover for Cilan. Tell Cress I got a dupe for him, and make sure he's done flirting with the bubble dancer for Arceus' sake."

Holly didn't understand a word the waitress had said and was wondering if she was supposed do something when the waiter named Willis skated over to her. He motioned for her to follow him towards the back to which Holly obliged, trying to weave in-between the various servers and customers as they went further into the restaurant. Holly picked Marina up to keep track of her, well aware that this doubled as a sort of calming mechanism for the both of them. As she ducked under a server carrying a large tray of drinks, and inadvertently stepping on Creevy's tail, Willis lead her to a large regal curtain with golden ropes on either side. He began pulling on the one closest to them, pulling back both curtains to reveal a rather dignified boy in a bowing position who couldn't have been much older than Holly.

His hair was tinted green, but Holly had the oddest feeling that it was dyed. Upon his reveal, he stood from his bow and pulled his arms back in a broad welcoming sort of way. His smile seemed genuine, and when he opened his eyes to look at Holly she felt a shiver go down her spine, though she wasn't entirely sure why. Perhaps it was because it felt as though his eyes were looking through her like glass, rather than at her. Beside her, she heard Creevy snort and say, "What, does he just stand behind a curtain all day and wait for challengers?" Holly couldn't help but think the same.

"Greetings, I'm Cilan. I apologize, normally we have a very routine operation where challengers battle several of our waiters and cooks before facing off against me. As you may have noticed however, we're in the weeds today so most of our staff is hard at wor-" He stopped as the waitress from earlier skated by and called to Cilan.

"Cilan, table six's waffle stack still hasn't come out yet and they've been here since eight!" Holly saw Cilan run a hand through his hair, looking quite ruffled.

"Arceus, where's Chile at?" He asked. The waitress flicked her eyes to the right, though there was nothing in that direction. Cilan seemed to understand however and waved her off saying, "Right, comp table six's coffee and the waffle stack itself." The waitress zoomed off on her skates, leaving Cilan to turn back to Holly.

"My apologies, Holly. As I said, I'm Cilan and my specialty is the Grass Type, I will be your opponent this morning since your starter was a Water Type. Shall we begin?" He asked. Holly had a few questions, such as how he knew her name or how he knew beforehand that she had chosen Marina, but instead she swallowed these questions and nodded. Cilan did the same and grabbed a pokeball from his belt and tossed it in front of him, opening to reveal Lillipup.

"I hope you don't mind if our patrons watch, they usually tip when we put on a show." Cilan told her. Personally Holly felt very uncomfortable with so many people watching her while she battled and if she hadn't been this far in, she felt she likely would've backed out. Not to mention the risk of any one of them recognizing her from the news report. There was no backing out now however, and Holly mumbled out Louis' name as he rushed forward to face Cilan's Pokemon. Though both Lillipups, Cilan's didn't have the signs of age that Louis had, and looked like a baby when compared to him. Louis wasted no time in rushing headfirst into the other Lillipup, knocking it back several feet. Cilan didn't seem concerned however, if anything he seemed rather confident as he ordered his Pokemon to go for Louis' paws. Louis let out a faint yelp as the Lillipup's teeth scraped against his front paw, and he jumped back.

Holly thought that using teeth wasn't that bad of an idea, and as Cilan called out saying, "Let's clean this up, Lillipup. Tail whip, if you please." Holly glanced at the Lillipup turning around and ordered Louis' to bite down on its tail. She saw Cilan try to call back his Lillipup but too little too late, as Louis closed his teeth around the tiny stub of a tail. Holly's insides squirmed as she saw a bit of blood fly from the Lillipup's tail, but this short distraction was exactly what Cilan had been hoping for it seems. He ordered his Pokemon to roll around and it apparently worked, for soon the Lillipup was free and Louis was staring at the Lillipup, looking rather annoyed.

"Let's turn the flame to high then, shall we?" Cilian asked to nobody in particular. He ordered a 'Sand attack', and the Lillipup swiped a paw up towards Louis' eyes, splattering dust across them. Louis stumbled, struck dumb by the the sudden blindness and didn't see the onslaught of swipes the opposing Lillipup dealt. Holly cringed with each blow, trying to ignore the sound of the crowd whistling, their interest peaking. She knew she couldn't keep Louis in there much longer, but perhaps if he could get one more good hit in...

"Louis, on your left!" She called. She saw Louis stumble in the general direction of where the Lillipup had been, but by the time he was ready to pounce Cilan's Pokemon had already rammed into him and sent him rolling. She and Marina winced while Creevy shook his head, letting out a "Tut tut." Louis got to his paws and tried to sink his teeth where he thought the opponent was, only to bite down on thin air. He let out an audible groan of frustration and did a full one-eighty, bashing his head into the Lillipup's. Both of them recoiled with Holly seeing this as the best opportunity to change things up.

"Marina, tag in!" She said, ushering her little Oshawott into the battle and recalling Louis back to safety. He let out a grunt of reluctant acceptance and fell in line next to Creevy who tried to help get the sand out of his eyes. Meanwhile, Marina was rushing headfirst towards the Lillipup with her teeth bared and a low howl escaping his lips. The Lillipup seemed to be greatly intimidated by this change and backed up towards Cilan, only to be blasted back by a jet of water from Marina. Cilan gave an incredulous look towards Holly as Marina knocked out his Pokemon in a single hit, and sighed, recalling his Lillipup. What replaced it made Marina take a step back, her eyes widening in fear.

A Pansage, a good foot taller than Marina towered over her and cracked it's knuckles, glaring down at the cowering Oshawott. Suddenly a barbed vine protruded from it's paw and made to strike across Marina at a speed faster than she could run. Holly let out a silent scream, Marina shut her eyes, the vine raking across crimson fur that seeped blood of a deeper crimson.

"Girl, didn't Holly teach you anything about type advantages?" Creevy asked, the vine gripped tightly in his bloodied paw. Marina opened her eyes and stared up in awe at Creevy, her voice seemingly vanished. Holly's seemed to have come back momentarily as she looked at the sight that had unfolded. She called out to Marina, "Come on back, Marina, let Creevy handle this!" Marina nodded and quickly turned tail, running back towards her trainer and fellow Pokemon while Creevy snickered at Cilan's look of surprise.

"Boy, you look like you just got failed by the health inspector!" Creevy snickered. Cilan didn't seem to hear him and instead ordered his Pansage to wrap another vine around Creevy's legs, but he never got the chance. Creevy's paws ignited, lighting the vine on fire instantly and causing the Pansage to absolutely freak out. Creevy yanked hard on the remaining strap of the barbed vine and pulled the Grass Type over to him, pulling his flaming fist back and slamming it right into the Pansage's face. The effect was instantaneous; the crowed gasped, Cilan groaned, and Holly and Marina let out a cry of happiness while Louis grunted in slight admiration as the Pansage fell flat on it's back with a bloodied nose and a large burn mark in the shape of a paw on it's face.

Holly rushed forward and picked Creevy up as the restaurant clapped behind her, hugging him as hard as she could until she realized his paw was still on fire and quickly setting him back down. Marina and Louis followed as Cilan stepped down and walked over to Holly. He didn't seem mad that he had lost, instead he seemed rather intrigued. He pulled a small shining object from his the inside of his vest, and handed it to Holly.

"The Trio Badge, awarded to those who are able to show perseverance and dedication against a match biased against them. Well done, Holly." Holly pocketed the badge, and turned back to see Cilan smiling at her. It wasn't a warm smile, but more of a satisfied one, as though had finally understood something. His eyes widened, and he whistled towards the kitchen. A person in restaurant attire with wavy blue hair, who Holly assumed was Cilan's brother, hurried over.

"Yeah yeah, I got the money, keep your hair on." He pushed a small bag into Holly's hands, snapped his fingers at her in what she guessed was supposed to be a flirtatious manner, and sauntered off back into the kitchen. Likely to flirt with the "Bubble Dancer" she figured. Cilan bowed, and congratulated her as the restaurant's patrons began to turn their focus back to their food.

"Again, well done Holly. I suppose we'll be seeing each other again soon. Do feel free to stay and order lunch, challengers do receive half off on all meals they order after the battle." With that, he followed after his brother into the kitchen. Holly inspected the weighty purse of Poké, and then at her Pokemon who were looking at her expectantly.

"So, shopping anyone?" She suggested, holding the bag up for them to see.

* * *

 **A.N: As hardcore as it seems here, Cilan was such a pushover in my play-through. The thing about Nuzlockes is you grind in the beginning and get cocky, but then everything falls apart once you get the slightest bit overwhelmed.**


	5. Chapter 5: Reality

**Chapter Five: Reality**

 _"Grief is the price we pay for love."_ \- Queen Elizabeth II

* * *

"Girl, that cashier was looking you up and down like you were a whole new breed of Pokemon." Creevy said to Holly as they exited the local Poke-Mart, arms and paws full of goodies that they could now afford, thanks to Holly having beaten the Striaton Gym. Louis was holding a plastic bag filled with food in his mouth, and thus only snorted as they continued down the sidewalk. Marina who was holding a jug of water on her head giggled, and Holly only rolled her eyes and looked into her newly bought, but cheap, satchel. Inside she had placed the odd bottle, which a kindly passerby had informed her that it was a potion, her small bag of money, and some gauze.

"Oh please, he was probably wondering why a homeless girl had brought a wild herd of Pokemon into the store." She replied. The Fire Type placed his free paw on his chest and gave an offended look towards her.

"Who you calling wild? I'll have you know I'm a dignified and tame Pok-" Creevy started, but Louis cut across him with a louder snort than before that nearly made him drop his bag. Creevy shot a glare at the Lillipup, but it quickly faded into a grin as they crossed the street and walked past the Pokemon Center. Holly stopped just as they passed it and exclaimed, "Oh!" and did a quick turn to go inside. The others followed after her, Marina still trying to keep the jug on her head steady.

Apparently the air conditioner was still broken, for as soon as Holly entered a chill shot through her. She suppressed a shiver and walked up to the counter where a nurse was waiting for her. The nurse, a middle-aged woman with auburn hair, greeted her with a bow of the head that was followed by a shifty look that unnerved Holly, and asked if she needed any assistance.

"Yes, I'd like my Pokemon to be checked, please." She asked politely. The nurse peeked her head around Holly and looked at the ragged group tailing behind her.

"Could you put them in their balls first, Miss?" The nurse shot. Holly flinched at how harsh the words were thrown at her but did as she was asked, much to her Pokemon's annoyance. Making sure she had scooted all of their purchases by her, Holly watched the nurse whisk her Pokemon away into the door behind her. Alone in the Pokemon Center with nothing but the TV for company, she resorted to trying to rearranging the contents strewn around her into an orderly fashion, to no avail. After a few minutes the nurse came out with the pokeballs in a cart and handed each one to Holly, who let all of her Pokemon out back into the lobby, much the nurse's distaste.

"Oh, uh, is Ellie here? I had some money I needed to pay her back." Though Holly had forgotten that the part time nurse had given her the money for gauze in the first place, much to her embarrassment, she still felt the need to pay her back for her kindness. It was the act of generosity that Holly had so rarely experienced that might have seemed small to other, but was a big deal to Holly.

The nurse shook her head.

"No. She got fired yesterday for drinking too many energy drinks on the job. Went back to whatever town she lives in this morning." She said bluntly. "Now is that all?" Holly couldn't help but feel a wave of disappointment wash over her as she left the Pokemon Center with her Pokemon following behind her. Aside from having no other suitable option, facing the Gym had partly been to pay Ellie back, not to mention she had been the one to suggest it to Holly in the first place. Her Pokemon couldn't help but notice this change of mood from their trainer.

"What's eating you, hon? Was it that nurse at the Center?" Creevy asked. Holly shook her head and explained she had been hoping to see someone else there.

"Ih it Ewwy?" Louis asked through the bag in his teeth. Holly nodded, and explained to Creevy about the nurse she had met a few days prior. Louis' ears perked upon hearing about her absence and grunted out, "Laid off?"

"Fired." Holly answered. Louis nodded gravely as they turned around the corner. Marina frowned and looked over at Holly.

"I liked her, she took me and Louis and washed us, and then sprayed that stuff on us and then we felt better! That other nurse treated us like we were bombs that were about to go off." Creevy and Louis nodded at this, and Holly couldn't help but feel the high that she had felt from winning their badge wear off. Greying clouds had also begun drifting in, and Holly was thankful that they now had a Fire Type on their side as they made their way through Striaton City.

The rest of the walk back to the Dreamyard was done in silence, minus the bustling noise of passerby and cars going up and down the streets. Holly vaguely wondered what they would do next, now that they had beaten the city's Gym. Perhaps they would move on to the next town and challenge the next Gym as seemed to be the route Holly was taking, but secretly she hoped not. She had grown to like their small little shelter in the Dreamyard, and she had slowly grown use to the noises of Pokemon chattering in the breeze as she drifted off to sleep whilst trying to ignore the bitter cold. Perhaps they could find a way to stay there and make some sort of home there? However unlikely, Holly couldn't help but relish at the idea.

By the time they had reached the Dreamyard, the clouds had completely blanketed the area and the future was promised with rain. As they walked past one of the many patches of overgrown grass that littered the Dreamyard, a Purrloin with a scratch on it's nose popped its head out of the bushes and nearly scared Holly half to death.

"Hey!" It whispered. Marina stopped the jug on her head from falling just in time, balancing on one foot as she looked over at the frightened looking Pokemon. Holly recognized it as the same one Louis had fought against the day prior, the scar no doubt coming from him. The Purrloin looked around, as if worried about being overheard whispered softly but hurriedly. "There's some weirdos in costumes going around making a real mess of things! I don't know what they're up to, but word is spreading throughout the area. Be careful!" Holly recovered from her surprise and nodded, thanking the Purrloin for its warning. The Purrloin nodded as well and shifted back into the bushes, and out of sight.

"What's that about, Miss?" Louis asked, but Holly shrugged. She had about as much idea as the rest of them. They made to their usual spot under the stairs and began settling in. Marina sat the jug of water down and let out a sigh of relief, laying against Holly who had rolled up her pants leg and was pulling the gauze out of her satchel. Meanwhile Creevy sparked up another fire from the remaining wood, with Louis digging out the food from the bags he and Creevy carried.

"I got mostly -Ow, non-perishable foods." Holly told them as she unwound her old jacket sleeve from around her leg. "Granola, canned meat, peanut butter, stuff like that. Me and my mom practically lived off of stuff like that. There should be a can opener in Creevy's bag." With Creevy's help, Louis managed to open said can opener and get a bag of roasted peanuts going. Soon they were all sitting around the fire, and though the sky was covered by gray clouds that were followed by chilly winds, their spirits remained high with a fire to warm them and food to fill their bellies. Marina had snuggled up with Holly and was dozing peacefully in her lap while Louis and Creevy were laughing and cracking jokes. Meanwhile, that pleasant presence Holly had felt drifted by, and lingered while they chatted.

"Oh and it had been going on for weeks, with the Magnemite coming to his girl whenever he went to work. So after he finds out, he looks at me like he's about to cry and asks, 'Creevy, do you think she'll leave me for him?' and I dunno what made me say it but I sputtered out, I said, 'Well, she magne-might.'". Creevy cackled, and began rolling on the floor from laughter. Louis rolled his eyes, but Holly could tell he was smiling. They looked at each other, and for a moment Holly was glad that she had ran away, glad that she had followed through with a rash decision, as for once in her life doing so had brought upon a happiness that she had never known. A happiness she would have done anything for it to have stayed.

It was at that moment that Louis' ears twitched and he suddenly turned his head so fast that for a second Holly worried it might have broken, but quickly realized that they were not alone and followed his gaze. In the distance they could hear what sounded like someone, or something, rustling through the bushes, something bigger than the average Purrloin. Holly shook Marina awake, while Louis bared his teeth and Creevy straightened up, engulfing one of his paws in fire. More leaves rustled, footsteps grew nearer, and suddenly a figure appeared in the opening of the hallway looking dead at Holly and the others.

"Holly, dear, that couldn't be you, could it?!"

Holly nearly fell into fire from the shock of hearing Bianca's voice, and it took a few seconds for her to comprehend the fact that Bianca had just shown up out of the blue. She stood up and dusted off her pants, making especially sure to cover up the gauze as she walked over to greet her friend. The two hugged briefly, while Louis explained to Creevy who Bianca was, who slowly lowered his flaming paw.

"Bianca, I- What are you even doing here?" Holly asked, giving her friend an incredulous look. Bianca gave one of her tiny smiles and explained that she was looking for a Pokemon for the Professor, one that was only found around the Dreamyard.

"Have you seen it? Me and Cheren were about to head out to Castelia City, thought first we'll have to stop by Nacrene City so he can challenge the Gym there." She informed Holly, who groaned inwardly at the thought of talking about Cheren. She turned to her Pokemon and said, "I'm going to take a quick walk with Bianca, guys. Be back soon." They all nodded, and Holly and Bianca set out the side of the fallen facility was and began searching casually for a Pokemon Bianca described as "Big and pink, with a flowery pattern."

The two were silent at first, but after a minute or so Bianca seemed to sense that there was a slight tension, and attempted to break it.

"I'm sorry about Cheren, Holly. He's just very appreciative of what the Professor has offered us, and I don't think he wants to risk any of it. I think he saw you all covered in muck and grime, and well, got worried." She tried defending him again, and Holly only shrugged, saying it was no big deal. Holly didn't want to admit that she felt slightly betrayed, that she felt that the whole situation wasn't entirely her fault, but she said nothing. Bianca seemed content with Holly's answer and decided to shift the topic over to what Holly had been up to. Holly gingerly explained that she had more or less taken up temporary residence in the Dreamyard, and that she had beaten the local Gym as a way of obtaining income. Bianca seemed absolutely awed by all of this.

"But Holly, that's wonderful dear! It's good to see you're actually making a living out here! I was so worried when you left, what with nowhere to go and all, but now that I see how well you're doing, I'm- Well, I'm simply amazed!" She told her, giving her a warm hug that Holly returned. "I uh, I saw the story with your father. On television." Their eyes met, and Bianca's frown returned. "I know you would never, ever, do those things Holly. I'm so sorry, I can't imagine what you must be going through." But Holly shook her head, attempting to put the matter to rest. She didn't want to talk about it, and Bianca seemed to understand this. They continued their search for the mysterious Pokemon with the tension supposedly cleared, until after a while Holly began shivering from the sudden temperature drop. Bianca, she saw, was also shivering, along with the fact that had checked most of the surrounding area left Holly longing madly for the campfire back under the stairs. Bianca seemed to agree that the search was fruitless, and began heading back to the stairwell.

"Oh, have we checked here?" She asked, pointing to an eastern section of the wasted structure. Holly shook her head, and tried to peak over one of the walls to see inside. Bianca told her, "You can go back if you'd like, Holly, I'd just like to check over here right quick." Holly shrugged, figuring she could spare an extra few minutes, not to mention she needed to make sure there wasn't anything dangerous there that might creep on them while they slept. Together, Holly and Bianca managed to push a barrel that was blocking the entrance aside, revealing a rather spacious area that looked like it had been a storage unit with lots of grass and weeds poking through, the entire ceiling seemed to have collapsed long ago. A few holes had managed to crop up in the floor, resulting in many dangerous pitfalls into the basement of the ruin, with steel poles poking out of a few.

"Holly, look!" Bianca whispered, grabbing Holly's arm. She pointed toward a floating object dead ahead of them, and Holly had to guess that this was the Pokemon that they had been searching for. Bianca rushed forward to attempt battle with the pink Pokemon, but a sound made Holly grab her by the collar and quickly park themselves behind two barrels to their right; Holly had heard footsteps. Bianca made a small choking noise and looked at Holly bewildered and seemingly upset, but Holly held a finger to her lips. Living in the Dreamyard the past few days had made Holly a bit paranoid, worried that the police were about to run in and arrest her at any given time, and she was surprised at how easy it was to distinguish Pokemon footsteps from human ones.

Two figures rushed in from a corridor ahead on their left, both seemingly out of breath and extremely agitated. Though the sun was covered by rain clouds, there was enough light pouring in from the ceiling to reveal the figures were wearing grey cloaks of some sort, with a tight belt around the middle. A voice from earlier entered Holly's mind, _There's some weirdos in costumes going around making a real mess of things!_

The figure on the right slapped the other around the head, speaking in a feminine voice, "Mew above, Connors! You almost let the thing get away!" She paused again to catch her breath and the one opposite of her, Connors, spoke up.

"Me? You're the one who pushed me out of the way but said, 'Go get it!'. You probably scared the damn thing with all the racket you were making!" He complained. His companion chose to ignore this, and pulled what Holly guessed were tiny jars or capsules from the inside of their uniform. She uncorked it and began waving it around in Connors' face.

"Well? Get on with it then!" She ordered. "Sage Gorm will have our asses if we don't get this mist back to him. According to him, this stuff will definitely make the whole process go by a lot smoother, which will save us a lot of time and resources. So don't mess this up, got it?" Connors rolled his eyes and muttered something Holly couldn't hear. With a loud thud, and an awful groaning noise, Holly realized with a heart wrenching jolt that the female had kicked the poor Pokemon in her impatience. She felt Bianca squirm beside her and silently willed her not to get up.

"Hurry up, hurry up! If we don't get the Dream Mist back to Gorm, we're f-" The girl began, but Connors cut her off.

"I'm trying alright? They never actually told us _how_ to actually get Dream Mist, did they?" The female groaned at this and kicked the Pokemon again, this time raising her voice.

"If I lose my damn job that I worked four years to get because you were too incompetent to do one simple task, so help me Mew not even the power of the unknown will be able to save you, Connors!" She screeched. "I don't care, what we do. Catch it if you have to. I think I have a ball in my bag somewhere..." She muttered, reaching into her cloak. Of course, Bianca chose this moment to stand up and declare herself to the two figures, much to Holly's annoyance and dismay.

"Stop right there!" She yelled. The cloaked figures jumped in surprise, the female one letting another screech. Bianca crossed her arms and nodded at the bruised, pink Pokemon in front of them. "How can you just kick this poor Munna around like that? I heard you both, you're trying to capture it! Probably for something bad no doubt, and I can't just sit around while you stand here and kick this poor defenseless Pokemon!" Holly wanted to slap her hand against her face, while both of the figures seemed dumbstruck by this girl's random appearance and outburst, but once they grasped the situation things changed.

"Just who do you think you are?! Interrupting official business!" The female figure retorted. "You have absolutely no idea what's going on, do you?" Bianca pulled out her pokeballs from her bag and held them forward, to which Holly guessed was to show she meant business. The figures seemed to get annoyed by this, and Connors took a step forward.

"Typical Pokemon trainers, thinking they know and own everything. Bet you came blundering around in her trying to capture the Munna, huh? So you can what, force it to do your bidding and fight your battles? Meanwhile we, Team Plasma, plan to actually help it benefit the rest Pokemon!" He jeered. Bianca looked offended and made to retort, but Connors didn't give her the chance. "People like you make me sick. For the sake of your Pokemon and , I'm going to be rescuing them from you now." And suddenly he ran forward, grappling at the balls in Bianca's hands. Holly felt this was an appropriate time to step in and made to stop Connors for hurting Bianca, but found herself gasping in pain as a Purrloin, no doubt belonging to the female figure, jumped from nowhere and scratched across her face. Holly fell to the ground and felt the Pokemon walk up on her chest, the figure ordering it to plunge its claws into her neck.

A burst of water suddenly sprayed the Purrloin, sending it screeching, similar to its trainer, across the room. Holly looked up to see her Pokemon standing in the entrance, looking exponentially livid as they grasped the situation. Louis was snarling and pawing at the dirt, while Marina was actually shaking (whether from the cold or anger, Holly wasn't sure) and Creevy had engulfed his right paw in fire with a rather menacing grin on his face. Thunder roared from outside, and Holly felt a drop of water land on her shoulder.

"Thought you had been gone for a while, Miss, came to see if you were alright." Louis informed her. Holly nodded and felt a great rush of affection for her Pokemon, happy to see that the female figure was struck dumb from the wave of new Pokemon. She he quickly regained her composure though and ordered her Purrloin to go for the Oshawott. Holly gathered her thoughts as quickly as she could and noticing Bianca and Connors scuffling for her pokeballs, ordered Louis to go help her. She heard him scuffle off, and what she saw next nearly made her cry; A Patrat was staring right at her, a look of hatred in its eyes. She wasn't sure whose it was, whether it belonged to one of the Team Plasma members or if it was simply a wild Patrat that was looking to rumble. Her mouth became dry and she scooted backwards, but it didn't seem interested in letting her go and instead ran full force at her. Holly wanted to stand and kick it, she didn't care if it was a Pokemon, but something kept her glued to the dusty floor below her, and she could only attempt to back away from it.

Just in the nick of time, Creevy rushed forward and punched the Patrat right in its chest, a smirk plastered across his face. The Patrat looked dazed and stumbled, to which Creevy took this moment to turn to Holly and said, "Sorry, thought it'd be a bit more dramatic if I waited". Holly didn't exactly find this funny and raised her voice at him.

"What took you so long? Were you seriously waiting until the last moment so that it would look more dramatic?!" She yelled. He raised his eyebrows and chuckled, ignoring the Patrat's advances towards him.

"Oh, look who's getting slick out the mouth?" He teased, ducking right in time as the Pokemon tried to sink its teeth into him. Holly looked ahead and saw the female member was struggling with Marina, who was thoroughly beating the snot out of her Purrloin with a rapid fire of water blasts. Finally being able to stand, she took a step back and readied herself to take control of the battle, not that Creevy needed it. He was standing against the Patrat fairly well, the both of them constantly attacking but the other always moving away just in the nick of time. Holly suggested he try cornering it, but it wasn't as dumb as it let on, always making sure to weasel out before it reached a corner of the room. Holly felt she could leave Creevy to fend for himself, and skipped over to Bianca who had just managed to push Connors off with Louis' help.

Connors was clutching his face which had begun pouring blood profusely, no doubt due to Louis, and was paying no attention at all to what was happening as he curled up on the stone flooring. Bianca turned and gasped at Holly as she rushed over, and Louis turned from his spot on Connors' chest to look at her.

"Holly dearest, we really need to go now." Bianca whispered, her voice frantic with worry. Holly noticed her friend's hand was shaking as she pocketed her pokeballs, and Holly was surprised to find that her own hands were shaking. She hadn't noticed it before, with the adrenaline pulsing through her, but she was scared witless and had tears forming at the corners of her eyes. Something inside her, she later realized was her heart, was racing like a machine set to maximum power, and for some reason that only scared her more.

"Holly? Holly, we need to go!" Bianca repeated after Holly didn't reply. Holly started and shook her head, jumping as a screech of pain echoed throughout the Dreamyard. She checked over her and was thankful to find that it had come from the Purrloin and not Marina, though it sent a shiver down her spine none the less. She hurried Bianca towards the decayed exit and looked back to call the others back to her, but one look at Louis stopped her dead in her tracks. His eyes were practically bulging out of his sockets and his voice rang across the room, sharp and panicked.

"What are you doing, Lad?! It's using bide! IT'S USING BIDE!" He yelled out. Holly looked over just in time to watch Creevy pummel his fists into the Patrat again and again, Holly figured it must have given up as it wasn't even trying to defend itself. But as he went in for another punch the Patrat shot its eyes open wide, slamming itself into the Pansear so hard and fast that Holly heard with a pang several of Creevy's ribs break. The sound was like multiple gunfire shots firing through the air, followed by several thunks and crashes as he toppled over several of the barrels that had stood behind him, and then silence. The fighting stopped and all eyes turned to the pile of rusty upturned barrels, but nothing rose from it, nobody stood up and dusted off their shoulders saying that it was nothing, and the members of Team Plasma seemed to realize this first.

"Connors? Connors, we're leaving."

"I- what? What's the matter Lucy?" Connors asked, the lower part of his face still obscured by his hands.

"I told you not to call me that, now come on!" She ordered. Her Purrloin was recalled into it's ball, and soon she was running past Holly and Bianca without giving them a second glance. Connors recalled the Patrat and followed after her, blood still leaking from his hands. Holly hardly noticed them, and instead found herself walking over to the pile of barrels with Marina and Louis right beside her.

"Creevy?" Marina asked. Holly heard how shaky her voice was, and was sure that her own voice would be ten times worse. Together, with increasing panic, they pushed the barrels aside. Barrel after barrel they pushed, tackled, and shoved until finally they found what awaited them. Holly heard Marina gasp, and saw Louis shake his head and mutter, "Damned fool, he should have known better..."

The limp body of Creevy laid among the dirt and rubble below them. His eyes were closed, and multiple bruises covered his body from where the barrels had fallen landed on him, a small dribble of blood running down his bottom lip. For some reason, Holly held onto the faintest hope he was alive. They had only met a day ago, for him to die like this just as he had joined them seemed cruel, unnatural. She had always imagined someone dying as their breath slowly fading away, as they passed final words and one last smile as their breath eventually slowed to a halt, but this was the complete opposite. There were no final words, just her looking at his battered form under a pile of rusted barrels and rocks. She heard Marina sniffle beside her and picked her up to hold her in her arms, and felt her Oshawott nuzzle into her shoulder pitifully. The three of them sat around their former companion, with nothing but the rain to break the silence.

Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity to Holly, but very well could have been a mere minute, she heard Bianca make her way over to them. She didn't say any comforting words or apologies that Holly had expected her to, instead she put her around Holly and offered to go find a shovel or a spade so that they could bury them. Holly nodded, and Bianca left the three of them to mourn. The next hour seemed to flash by Holly like the cities she had seen when her father had driven her to his house, Bianca returning with a shovel as rusty as the barrels and the man she had borrowed it from, the man generously agreeing to dig the hole, lowering Creevy into it, and Bianca giving heartfelt final words that Holly could not bear to say herself.

"... and while I didn't know you for more than a few minutes, you came in with the rest of Holly's Pokemon to save us. I'll never be able to repay you for coming to our rescue, and me and my Pokemon owe you and the others, because without you they might have been taken away from me. Thank you, Creevy." Bianca finished. Holly sat at one end of the hole and stared down into it, her eyes wet, but more because of the now steady rain than because of actual tears. Louis was lying with his head on his paws beside Holly, and Marina on her other side. There were no tears, instead only a feeling of utmost failure in all of them. The man helped bury the dirt back into the grave, until soon they couldn't see Creevy's body, and all that was left was a mound that lifted slightly above the grass. Holly hadn't even noticed that Marina was gone until she had come back with Holly's walking stick in her paws.

"Holly, can we put this at the back? This cloth is a bit too big around me anyway, and I thought maybe we could put part of it up like a flag? You know, so people know it's important." Holly nodded, and wiped some of the rain from her eye as she spoke for the first time since Creevy had died and said, "That's a great idea, Marina." With Louis' help, they managed to tear off enough to make a small flag, but enough for Marina to still have a bandana around her neck. They tied their makeshift flag to the walking stick and stuck it firmly at the head of the grave; she wouldn't be needing the stick anymore. Holly thought personally that it better than she could have hoped for, and knew her Pokemon agreed. She didn't turn away from the grave however, not when the man with the shovel gave his condolences and left though Holly could have sworn she had heard his voice before, nor did she turn away when Bianca came and put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. She did however listen to what she had to say.

"Holly, I know you're going through something truly awful right now, but I think you should know when I went to find a shovel I heard a police officer who was in the Pokemon Center talking on his radio, saying he got a tip about the teenager being sighted at the Dreamyard. I- I think they may have been talking about you Holly, I don't know." Bianca said the last part in an urgent whisper and Holly knew immediately that they had to leave. The police were already warned about her being a psychotic teenager who attacked her parents, a dead Pokemon wouldn't add to her reputation. As much as she wanted to stay in front of the grave for numerous hours, she knew that their time in Striaton was up. Holly thanked her friend, and rushed back to the stairwell where their supplies laid. After stuffing as much as she could into her satchel, the three of them made to leave. Holly looked with a backward glance at the tiny stairwell that she had shortly called home, and felt a small pang of regret that she was leaving it. She knew there was no other option though, and waved goodbye to her temporary home, and the pleasant presence that had come with it.

It seemed however, that they were not entirely alone in their leaving. A rustle from a nearby tree startled the group, causing Marina to let out a squeak, Louis to growl, and Holly to tense up. Then, suddenly, a purple pointy eared head stuck out from the leaves above them, and Holly was surprised to find the Purrloin from earlier had appeared yet again. Holly recognized the three slashes Louis had inflicted right above its nose.

"Psst, hey!" He whispered, followed by Marina saying, "Oh, it's you!" but he didn't stop, "I saw what happened, at the Dreamyard with those weirdos. I'm sorry..." He gazed down at them sympathetically. Holly didn't feel like re-opening a wound that wasn't fully closed, and decided to try and change the topic, but the Purrloin was one step ahead of her. He looked around, peaking up over the leaves as if searching for something before turning back to them.

"There's some police guys wandering around over there, and they looked like they were searching for someone, and my guess is it's you guys, right?" He asked. Holly and Louis swapped looks of worry. If there were officers wandering around then things were about to get a lot more difficult.

"I know a shortcut, okay it's kinda the opposite since it takes a lot longer, but it's a way around them and it leads out to the beginning of Route 3. I can show you if you'd like!" He offered, and before they could discuss it he jumped from the tree and shot off into the bushes to their right. All three of them swapped looks this time, and in an instant they knew they didn't really have an option, and plunged into the bushes.

* * *

The station was strangely quiet that afternoon, with the drizzle from outside slowly transforming into a pounding rain that beat against the windows like a barrage of rocks being hurled at top speed. The occasional sound of keyboard being tapped, or a mug of coffee slurped noisily seemed to echo throughout the entire station. A soft murmuring could also be heard near the entrance, where a young woman in a periwinkle toned uniform was soothing a Purrloin that lay on the table. She continued cooing the small Pokemon, ignoring the man at the desk beside her who told her his underwear was missing, and asked if he could see hers.

Suddenly, the front doors sprang open. The sound of rain grew louder with the doors spread wide open, and the person who walked in hurried to close it, returning the room back to its quiet tranquility with the only widespread sound being that of the rain on the window once again. The newcomer walked quickly past the seats and straight to the front desk. A few words were swapped with the receptionist, who directed them to the door at the very back of the station, which lay wide open. They thanked the receptionist, and hurried to the back towards the door with bold letters plastered across the window that spelled out " **CHIEF** ". The Chief was sitting there, behind his desk, with a grim look on his face as he stirred his coffee with a little silver spoon and stared at a piece of paper with what looked to be hastily drawn scribbles scattered on it. A sharp knock on the already open door shook him out of his trance, and he looked up to see who could possibly be disturbing him when he was in the midst of something so important.

"Confound it, thought I told Daisy not to bother me with anyone, I'm busy dammit!" He shouted and slapped a hand against the edge of his table. The newcomer jumped from the sudden raised voice, and took a few steps back. Remembering how much relied on this meeting going well, they took a deep breath and walked into the open office. The walls were covered with numerous plaques and trophies, all declaring some achievement or another. One on a shelf located to the Chief's right stated, "Winner of Driftveil's Best Mustache Contest, 1989". The newcomer looked at the Chief, and felt as thought they were staring at a pumpkin that someone had glued a Lillipup to. His eyes were sunken in, and he never seemed to close his mouth entirely, making him resemble a Herdier that constantly had its teeth bared.

The Chief narrowed his eyes at the newcomer and brushed a hand through his hair, slicked back on the top but shaved completely on both sides, and raised an eyebrow.

"Well?" He barked. "Sit down, clearly you have something important to say, otherwise you wouldn't have come to me. I'm the Chief!" He proudly exclaimed. The other nodded and pulled out their wallet from their waistcoat, flipping it open to show his identification. The Chief narrowed his eyes further and eyed the wallet, looking from the card to the person before him. His eyes widened and he let a gruff, "Ah." and began digging hastily through his desk for something or another. After a minute he finally dropped a few files and papers onto the desk that the other recognized as being about them, and looked down at them.

"Terrible, just terrible..." The Chief muttered.

"Chief?" The other asked, unable to conceal the worry in their voice. The Chief picked up the paper had been focusing intently on earlier and held it up.

"My nephew wrote me this letter, he's in preschool, can't read a damn word of it. Just terrible." He shook his head and moved the letter aside, picking up the small jumble of papers and files and leaning back in his chair.

"Let me see, let me see..." He muttered. He flipped through the papers a few times and eventually began skimming through the file while brushing his mustache with his fingers, meanwhile opposite of him the newcomer was twiddling their thumbs, forcing their nerves to not get the better of them and just walk out the front door and back into the pouring rain. Finally the Chief tossed the folder down onto the desk and stared at the other, who did the same.

"So lemme get this straight, I.P sent some young puck down here because you need a recommendation from a..." He squinted as he looked down at the papers again. "A 'Certified Member of Law Enforcement Authority', is that it?" He asked. The other nodded.

"Well why would I recommend you? I don't know you, I don't know if you're worth the grit on the end of my boot." He said, and began stirring his coffee again.

"Actually, Chief, they wanted me to do a bit of field work in Unova for the local law enforcement, to prove my meddle." The other said. The Chief took a sip of his coffee, recoiled, and piled several sugar cubes into it.

"So they want you to do some work for me, and if you do well enough I tell them you're a-okay. Done and done? I don't have to give you a paycheck or nothing?" He checked. The other nodded. The Chief smiled a tiny bit and began stirring his coffee eagerly.

"Perfect. We're not exactly overstaffed at the moment, and if I.P seems to think you've got the backbone to do work for me then who am I to say otherw- HAUMANN GET YOUR HAND AWAY FROM HER THIS INSTANT OR I WILL CASTRATE YOU WITH THIS SUGAR SPOON, SO HELP ME ARCEUS!" The Chief suddenly shouted, standing up and waving his tiny silver spoon threateningly. The person across from him jumped, and looked around wildly in search of what was wrong. They peeked around the door and saw a young, rather annoyed looking, officer pull his hand back from the woman in the bright blue uniform, who was still focused on her Purrloin.

"Damn pervert." The Chief muttered. He raised his mug towards the uniformed girl, pointing her out to the newcomer. "That there, is a social worker from Plasma. I'm sure you've heard of them, they're big into helping Pokemon who get harmed by little jackass trainers or abusive caretakers, hell some of their stronger members actually liberate Pokemon from some of the more serious situations. Good people. We've already given them the right-away to help take any Pokemon they deem are being ill-treated." He explained. "They're practically a new branch of law enforcement." The newcomer nodded, having heard of Plasma many times beforehand.

"Well, that's where I think you're going to come in." The Chief announced. "That specific worker came in a while ago, told us about a trainer who attacked her and another member, and apparently a wild Pokemon was killed in the exchange." The Chief said solemnly. A chill went through the newcomer's spine at this, and they asked the first question that popped into their head.

"What Pokemon was it?"

"Pansear. A real shame, that." The Chief told them. "Now from what she says, her description of said trainer matches that of one we've gotten several warnings about." The Chief searched through his desk some more and eventually came up with a small picture that he tossed on the desk. In it was a young girl with short, clean, mahogany colored hair and bright green eyes that were the color of shamrocks. She was sitting in a chair and smiling softly at whoever was behind the camera.

"Meet Holly McConall. According to her parents, she's possibly deranged to some degree and has a history of attacking both people and Pokemon alike. We've got officers on the lookout, but I can't spare enough people to go on a manhunt for this one psychotic teenager. You can keep that by the way." He said gruffly, pointing at the small photograph. The newcomer pocketed it, along with their wallet back into their waistcoat and stood up.

"Consider it done, Chief." They said. A sudden loud slapping noise, followed by a pained whine from outside the office suggested Haumann hadn't learned his lesson. The Chief rolled his eyes and downed his coffee, smacking his lips and looking at his new lapdog.

"Bit young to be trying to get into Interpol, aren't you? What are you, twenty, twenty-two, Mr.-" But the newcomer interrupted him.

"Please, Chief, if you don't mind I'd prefer if you called me by the one assigned to me by I.P." He asked, making sure to sound as polite as possible. The Chief gave a short laugh and shook his head.

"Very well, very well. I believe you'd do best by heading over to Nacrene city. According to those restaurant boys, McConall is taking the League Challenge and is likely headed that way." The Chief escorted him out of the station, making sure to glare at a Haumann, who had a red hand-print on his cheek, and apologize to the Plasma member along the way, waving him off as he went into the rain.

"Good luck out there, Looker!"

* * *

Half an hour later, the Purrloin snuck out from the bushes, followed a few steps behind by Holly, Louis, and Marina, all of whom where covered in twigs and mud. Holly squinted her eyes in an attempt to look at where they had come out at, the wind and rain blinding her slightly. The Purrloin motioned for them to follow, and Holly noticed that they were right next to the Striaton's Gym. A thought occurred to Holly as they entered into the park before Route 3, the sound of rain tapping against the various ponds around them allowing her to muffle her voice.

"I just thought about it, do you think Cilan could have tipped the cops? He must've seen the news..." Holly whispered to Louis. He shrugged, shaking to get the rain off of him.

"Possibly, Miss. Then again there were at least fifty people eating in there at the time, could've been any of them. Someone could have just seen us walking back to the Dreamyard, who's to say?" He told her. Holly nodded, and said no more. She didn't want to worry Marina any more than she already was, and as much as they had all had a rough day, she considered Marina a bit more fragile than her and Louis, though perhaps she was just protective of the young Oshawott.

"We can take a rest here if you guys want, I mean I can keep going, but if you guys want I don't mind." The Purrloin told them. Holly nodded, thankful for a second to stop after moving through bushes for the past half hour. She took a seat on one of the many benches that surrounded the park they were in, shivering in the freezing rain. She reached her sleeveless arm into her hoodie as an attempt to keep it somewhat warmer, she was regretting ripping the sleeve for her leg with each passing day. On the bright side however, her leg seemed to holding over pretty well and only hurt if put into a bent too far. She could hardly call this good luck though, as this small scrap of fortune seemed to exist solely to remind her of how bad everything else was in comparison.

Her Lillipup hopped onto the bench next to her, and she could tell immediately what was about to happen.

"That wasn't your fault, Miss." He said, and only now did it strike her how odd it looked for a cuddly little Pokemon to be older than she was and have such a gruff voice. She said nothing, and for a second he didn't either. Marina scrambled up onto Holly's head, covering herself with Holly's beanie; Holly had almost forgotten she was wearing it. Meanwhile the Purrloin was camped under them below the bench, peaking his head out to watch the rain.

"The boy chose to fight, he knew the risks, and he was willing to take them." They both stared out ahead of them, not looking at each other, but instead at the scenery they had been presented with in the small park. A modest yet appealing fountain sat ahead of them, with numerous hedges lining around the small ponds as a sort of barrier between them, some made into beautiful topiary that on any other day would have made Holly stop to truly admire them.

"Really? Cause I don't remember telling him he might die for me." Holly muttered. Louis shook his head and stared up at the concrete colored sky.

"All Pokemon know that by becoming a, so to speak, trained Pokemon, they face every battle with the possibility it may go wrong." He told her.

"But I didn't-"

"It doesn't matter if you asked him too or not, it is a creed of sorts, a silent contract if you will, that we all make. Not that every Pokemon you come across will simply lay down their lives for you, but we understand friendship and selflessness a lot more than you humans ever will. Just look at your friend, Cheren I think it was, I'm sure the boy has some compassion in there somewhere, but do you think he would give his life for one of his Pokemon? Perhaps, but it seems as likely as me evolving into a Lugia. Now his Pokemon, on the other hand, what do you think?" Louis posed the question, and Holly didn't really have an answer. She wasn't sure what Cheren's Pokemon had to do with the fact that she had ultimately failed.

"I just- I know we didn't know him long. But he still felt like, like one of us." She murmured, more to herself than anyone else. Louis snorted, and at first Holly thought he was going to scold her for saying such a thing.

"Well of course he was, he fought that restaurant boy didn't he? He came to your rescue and took that Patrat on full swing, didn't he?" Louis checked. Holly remained silent, unsure of whether this made her feel better or not. Marina and the Purrloin had remained silent through this entire exchange, and didn't seem keen on interrupting anytime soon.

"Don't misunderstand me, Miss. We're duty bound to our trainers, but more often than not it's because we choose to rather than because we feel obligated to." Holly tried to take in his words, but none of it seemed to matter, none of it fixed the fact that Creevy had died for her. Not wanting to feel like his words fell upon deaf ears, she nodded. He wasn't looking at her though, he was still staring up at the clouds far above them, and something in Holly made her feel like the subject was fresh in his mind, but that his words were for someone else entirely.

Holly suddenly felt sick of the garden, and wanted to leave as soon as possible, or perhaps she just wanted to get away from Striaton. She stood up, causing everyone else to jump from this sudden change; Marina had to hold on to Holly's hair as not to fall. She knelt down to look at the Purrloin and attempted to muster up a smile, but it simply wouldn't come.

"Thank you for getting us out of Striaton, I don't think we could've done it without you." She reached into her bag to pull out some food to give to him in thanks, but to her surprise she couldn't find the potted meat she had planned on giving him. "I... uh- I guess I-" She started, but something caught her eye, a glint of some sorts from behind the Purrloin. The glint of a can.

"We are known as the 'Devious Pokemon' for a reason, you know." The Purrloin said calmly, calm enough to where if Holly didn't know better, would've thought he wanted to get caught. He slid the can around and pushed it towards her. "Since you are technically on the run from the police, surely a sneaky Pokemon such as myself would be useful, right?" He asked.

Holly looked at the emerald eyes that mirrored her own, and frowned, but Marina spoke first.

"Why would we want someone who steals to tag along with us? You might just loot our stuff and make off into the night!" She argued. Holly couldn't help but agree, however the Purrloin wasn't quite finished.

"If I wanted to pilfer your food, I would've done it already, I've already proven I have the skill." He reasoned, and Holly thought she heard some pride in his voice. "I'm bored of living in the Dreamyard, and you guys are the most exciting thing to happen there in ages! I sure as hell can't survive out there on my own, and you could use an extra paw, right?" He looked at Holly pleadingly, and Holly supposed it was the charming nature Purrloin were infamous for (Team Plasma's radio chats had said often that thieves used Purrloin due to this) but she slowly felt herself becoming more accustomed to the idea. She wasn't so baffled as not to consult the others on the matter however, and turned to her fellows.

"What do you guys think? We keep him or leave him?" She asked. Marina looked down at him with a seedy look in her eye and shrugged.

"I guess I'm okay with it." She eventually said. Holly turned to Louis, modeling Marina's shrug.

"So long as he keeps his paws to himself, I suppose we could use the extra hand, or paw in our case, now that we're a 'mon short. " He said, and Holly felt her heart hurt as her mind drifted back to Creevy, trying to rid herself of the picture of his bruised body in the grave dug by a stranger with a soothingly familar voice...

"In that case, welcome to the team then, uh... What's your name, again? Did we ask that?" Holly checked. The Purrloin coughed into his paw and straightened up in a dignified manner.

"Violet, my name is Violet." He smiled a toothy grin at them, and they introduced themselves in turn. After a short silence where nobody moved, Louis hopped from the bench and narrowed his eyes in an attempt to see through the thick rain that was pouring down. To their left was a walkway over the pond to another part of the garden, and past that seemed to be the exit.

"Shall we then?" He asked the others, all of whom nodded. They set off over the wooden walkway and were just about to go through the exit when from a bush that had been cut to look like a Swanna jumped an older man with graying hair who looked as though he had been waiting there for several days. In one swift motion he pinned Holly to the ground and began reaching into her pockets, pulling something small out and standing up and inspecting it intently.

"Yes, yes you have it! You may pass, you have th-" In an instant both Marina and Louis had jumped the man in a similar fashion that he had done, and soon the air was filled with screams of pain and confusion as the old man was bitten, scratched, and thoroughly pummeled by Holly's Pokemon. Holly took a deep breath in an attempt at taking everything in, and quickly scooted back to the other side of the walkway. She felt herself instinctively wrap her hands around her knees as a form of comfort as Violet stalked over to her, carrying something in his mouth.

"You alright?" He asked hurriedly, dropping the small shiny object at his feet. Holly didn't answer, continued sounds of growls and screeches sounding in her ears. She looked down at the object and recognized it immediately as her Striaton City Gym Badge.

"D-did he just try and steal my badge?" She asked shakily. Violet shrugged, saying, "I think he was checking for it, like a requirement to pass or something. Certainly not the way that I would have done it, in fact I'm pretty sure doing so would be illegal." He nosed it over to her and she pocketed it quickly, hopping up and grabbing her fallen satchel from the ground and running towards the exit.

"Marina! Louis! We're leaving!" She shouted over her shoulder. Violet was already on her tail, and her other Pokemon followed soon after, leaving the bruised and likely unconscious old man behind them. Holly continued running for several minutes, only looking back to make sure her Pokemon were still in close proximity, and didn't stop until she reached a dead oak tree and slumped against it. Everyone was out of breath and shivering from the bitter rain, but Holly was also shaking from their recent encounter.

"That was t-terrifying." She stuttered, watching the Marina gasp for air anxiously. Louis coughed a few times, nodding in agreement and Violet looked only slightly disturbed.

"This happen often with you guys?" He asked nervously. Louis nodded again, saying, "It's usually something or other." After this short break the group decided to continue moving forward, as Louis informed them that he believed they were on Route 3 now. Louis admitted that it was for the best, saying, "The old maniac has probably reported us to the police, considering our luck." So they continued through the wind and rain as the temperature lowered and the sky faded from grey to black, until their visibility was lowered to the point where seeing was about as easy as finishing a jigsaw puzzle that had all the pieces painted a single solid color. After an hour or so of wandering around in the cold and dark, Holly had to admit that today had by far been one of the worse days of her life.

True, her most recent birthday was definitely a downer on all accounts, but at least then she knew where her life was likely headed and at the end of the day she had received Marina. Today, not only had she to some degree got one of her Pokemon killed, but she now headed in a downward spiral through a region on her own with the police searching for her. Holly figured that if what was left of her family hadn't had created false accusations just to land her in deeper trouble, she would have definitely given up by now.

 _What I wouldn't give to be back in Aniville Town right now,_ Holly thought, _I'd even be fine with sleeping on that dirty mattress with Mom again. Oh Mew above, Mom..._ And as luck would have it, whilst in the midst of painfully trying to forget about her mother, along with the rain and darkness clouding her view, Holly didn't notice the sudden decline and slipped down the muddy slope, hitting rocks and branches alike, her voice echoing out into the dark mixed with the shouts of her Pokemon, her vision becoming nothing but dark swirls and blurry shapes until her chest landed rather forcefully against the ground with a dull thud.

 _Yeah, this seems like a fine enough place to give up if any,_ she decided as pain seared through her body like wildfire though dry grass. She attempted to roll over, but this only seemed to increase the pain so she resorted to turning her head around so she could attempt to see through the face full of mud. She heard consecutive shouting from above that she figured must be her Pokemon, but as to what they were going to do and what she herself was going to do, well, she'd let someone else deal with it.

Unfortunately as it were, it looked like someone else was indeed about deal with it. Through the rain and muck she could see in the distance lights from what she assumed to be a house flicker on, likely someone coming to investigate all the noise they had made. Holly knew she had to get up, that laying here was, simply put, an awful idea on all accounts. But she was tired of running, tired of everything the recent week had thrown at her. So when she heard the sounds of something sliding down next to her, and the sight of a silhouette slowly making its way towards her, she decided to give in to what her body was practically screaming for her to do, and let everything fade to black.

 **Holly blacked out!**

* * *

 **A.N: I'm so sorry that this chapter is a bit shorter, or if it seemed a bit rushed, I had some extra time on Christmas Eve (Which is when I'm writing this) and I was only able to do so much after losing a couple thousand words to me being tired and closing the page before saving. To clarify a few things to anyone who was bothered by them:**

 **Creevy was given to me in the Dreamyard, while Violet was my first capture in the Dreamyard. I didn't count Creevy as a capture during my Nuzlocke run, as I consider gift Pokemon to be freebies.**

 **Though it's stated at the end she blacked out, this is simply used as a gag and does not mean my team was wiped out on Route 3.**

 **If you have any questions, comments, or complaints, be sure to review them. Even if you're reading this six years after it was posted, please, leave a review. Also, from everyone in Undeniable Truth, have a safe and a very merry holiday!**


	6. Chapter 6: Growing Family

**Chapter Six: Growing Family**

 _"When everything goes to hell, the people who stand by you without flinching, they are your family." -_ Jim Butcher

* * *

A warmness had spread throughout Holly, from her head to her fingertips. The air around her was so warm and the bed so cozy, that opening her eyes was simply not an option. A low buzzing sound was coming from her far right, and she distantly realized her mother must have brought out the old space heater to bat away the cold, as she did every winter. Distant sounds of children playing and talking reached her ears, and Holly felt herself pulling the fuzzy blanket that was wrapped over her closer to her neck. A door on her immediate left creaked open, and she heard her mother call out to her.

"Holly? Are you awake?"

Her eyes opened immediately, throwing the bright white blanket aside and standing from the warm bed. She looked around, eager to catch a glimpse at her mother. Her eyes shot to the open door, and the smile that had begun to spread upon her face instantly vanished. A black and white Blitzle stood at the open door, staring dead at her. Everything seemed to fade away at that point, and Holly found herself crumpling down to the wooden floor below her.

Vivid images seemed to leap out at her with rhyme and reason seemingly being abandoned. First she was at her mother's house, except everything was frozen solid because Creevy was dead, buried outside of her window as a constant reminder. Her mother's body lay in the living room floor, iced over, while people walked by their windows without a clue or a care as to what had happened inside. The world continued on.

And then she was in the dark, a fuzz covered blanket tuck under her to conserve warmth, followed by Holly suddenly throwing up onto the fuzz and the floor beside her. It was all gone in a single second, for she was no longer in a warm bed but in a cold polished house of what appeared to be solid gold with heavy repetitive thumping sounding from somewhere nearby. The walls, the floors, the paintings of former heads of the house, all golden, except for the spot where Holly sat. There the floor seemed to have given up its posh appearance and was instead broken, and dirty. The thumping had suddenly ceased. The door that Holly sat across from had been encrusted with gems, that she somehow knew had been harvested from rare and magnificent Pokemon from regions afar, and it suddenly opened just wide enough for someone to peak through, and someone did.

Holly watched as Bianca shouldered herself halfway outside of the door, wearing nothing but her goofy looking green beret, and her glasses which were incredibly lopsided. She extended her hand outwards, beckoning Holly with her finger, like some old fashioned flapper girl, asking Holly to come join her. There was never a response, because Holly was now flying on the top of a beautiful Pokemon with elegant white fur that glistened in the sunlight. The Pokemon let out a resplendent roar and suddenly dived bomb straight down, down into shadows that seemed to stretch on for her entire lifetime. She was hanging over the bed now, her mouth and the floor drenched in sick as she continuously gagged. Her mother was there, rubbing a hand gently against her back while her chest seemed to want to suck into itself, making it painful to simply breathe until it gently faded like the last strum of a chord.

Holly sat on her father's couch, watching as he stomped something into carpet. Her father was wearing a Plasma outfit, and was mercilessly kicking a small creature with the front of his boot. Blood was leaking along the carpet and had slowly massed into a larger puddle around the poor creature. Holly could see in-between her father's legs the small, wide-eyed body of Marina staring up at the ceiling, blood staining her normally clean and smiling face. Holly reached out in vain to try and step in, but she simply couldn't find a way to get up. Her body wasn't working, and the dent in Marina's head was getting deeper and deeper...

And then her eyes opened. Everything seemed to be spinning, and she found herself vomiting into a bucket that was beside her bed before she could even take in her surroundings. After a minute of trying to lose the pained gasping feeling in her chest, she closed her eyes, half wondering if she would be transported to some other demented scenario. The other half knew they must have been fever dreams, and that she was certainly in the waking world now. She could hear small droplets of rain pattering against the roof and the window from outside, a soft light from it dimming the room to a steel blue color.

The room itself was a room Holly herself would've been fit to call her own. There were multiple arrays of posters strung up on the wall to her right, some even featuring some bands Holly enjoyed such as "The Smashing Pumpkaboos", or "Marowak 5". Whoever owned this room had good taste. There was also a wooden desk to the back that had multiple folders on it, and a shelf above it that was littered with figurines of various Flying Type Pokemon. Whoever owned this room was a nerd. Not that Holly minded of course.

She was so focused on examining the room she was in that she didn't notice that someone else had entered the room, and felt a jolt shoot through her as she heard her mother's voice distinctly say, "Oh, you're awake?" and turned in vain, hoping beyond hope that her mother would be waiting for her. She knew deep down, that it was ridiculous to think her mother would suddenly be alive and just standing before her, that it would just be the Blitzle from before, or someone else, hope beyond hope, but she couldn't help herself. Again, she felt her heart twist as she turned to see the black and white form of a Blitzle standing in the doorway.

"How do you feel? You've been in and out for a full day now after all." They asked. Holly felt her mind slow to a halt, and couldn't formulate the words or the thoughts to reply to the Pokemon. A familiar feeling in her stomach returned and she made to the trash can by her bed, a heaving feeling painfully rising through her chest and throat, but nothing would come out.

"You poor dear, there's nothing left in your stomach to throw up is there?" They asked sympathetically as Holly gasped and sputtered over the can. She tried swallowing in an attempt to gain slight control of her body's minor convulsions, but doing this simply resulted in intense pain in her throat. The Blitzle hopped up off the bed and trotted out the door, leaving Holly to her thoughts and her sickness. Holly felt herself roll back over on the bed, and stare up at the wooden ceiling above her. It seemed to spin in her eyes, like little swirls on a fancy cake that one might see in a bakery window, but her mind was far from baking and swirls, and was instead trying to remember the surreal scenarios she had dreamt up. They were already starting to fade away from her, hazy images that were losing their meaning the more she thought about it. She was able to pick out certain parts that distinctly stuck out to her. She remembered sitting on her father's couch and watching him kick poor Marina...

"Marina?" Holly croaked. Her voice came out weak and quiet, and she reluctantly forced herself to raise her voice as she called again, "Marina?!" And then the others, "Marina, Louis? Violet?!" Where were they? The Blitzle had said she had been out for a day, what all had happened since then? Had the police found them? Were they in custody right now? And while Holly wasn't an expert on law, she knew this treatment was far better than she would be given if the police had found her. Unless she was being sent back to her father's house, and they were keeping her here until she recuperated, as to not contaminate her father and step-mother.

Surely this was the case, as Holly couldn't come up with one that made more sense to her. This meant that she was going to have to find the others and break out if she could. _But surely making it out alive is more important in this case? They'll throw you back to your father, and can you imagine what would happen if you went back there?_ A voice in her head reasoned. Of course it's important, she argued, but I can't leave them behind, they're all I have. _Stop being noble, do you really want to end up in jail? You know what they do to young girls like you in there._ The voice was becoming far more insistent now. I'm not being noble though, and I'd rather not have that image in my mind, thanks, she shot back. _You know you want to leave, keep risking your neck like Creevy did and you'll end up just like him!_ The voice was now practically spitting at her, and Holly was amazed at how much the voice sounded like her own.

 _You can survive on your own, there's nothing you can do for them! JUST GIVE UP AND LEAVE THEM BEHIND!_ I won't, I won't, I won't-

"I WON'T!" Holly suddenly screamed aloud. She regretted this almost immediately due to the sickening pain that shot through her throat. It took several seconds of heavy breathing for her to realize that the Blitzle had returned with a pack of soda crackers, and was staring at her with increased worry. They stared at each other for a few moments before the Blitzle lowered the pack of crackers onto the bed and took a few steps back.

"My friends-" Holly began, but was cut short by a bout of coughing and painful swallowing. The Blitzle seemed to understand though, and nodded towards the doorway.

"Your Pokemon are fine. When we found you they were standing over you, very protective I have to say, I thought the Oshawott, Marina I think is her name, was going to bite my head off." The Blitzle smiled and Holly attempted to return one. "We brought you inside and got you cleaned up a bit, and have just been taking care of you for the past few days." The Blitzle, Holly realized, did not share her mother's voice. Instead, the genuine care and worry was so much like that of her mother's though that only now could she discern the differences of the two. A lingering question made itself known in Holly's mind however.

"A-am I in custody? Like police custody?" She asked, unable to conceal the shakiness in her voice. The Blitzle didn't seem too put off by the question and answered quite frankly, "No dear, you're at Mason's Day Care off of Route 3." Something about her was so authentic and honest that Holly couldn't help but believe her. She told Holly that she had to go make sure dinner wasn't being overcooked, and promised to bring her Pokemon in as soon she could, leaving Holly alone once again. Instead of arguing with herself, she decided to open the pack of soda crackers and bite into one. It was dry, salty, and didn't entirely sate her appetite. On the other hand though, she had never realized how absolutely delicious they were before and felt that soda crackers were greatly under-appreciated.

A sudden gasp sounded from her left and Holly turned mid-bite to see Marina, Louis, and Violet all running towards her at once. Marina reached her first and practically knocked her over by the sheer force of her flying hug, meanwhile Louis and Violet hopped on the bed and sat around Holly, who was sitting up now.

"You're awake! I told Violet that you'd get better, but he kept telling me not to get my hopes up, just in case!" She turned and stuck out her tongue at the Purrloin, who's ears flicked as he grinned in embarrassment.

"Don't hold it against me, I just didn't want to get our hopes up in case things didn't end so well." He said. Louis rolled his eyes and held his head high, saying, "Don't be silly, boy, I told you it was just the flu. Personally, Miss, I had complete faith in you all the while." Holly smiled softly at her friends and felt her heart ache as she looked at all of them sitting around her, worrying about her while she was sick. _How could I have ever left you guys?_ She wondered. A new voice entered the fray, making everyone look over at the door where a woman in a yellow turtleneck and a slightly stained apron was standing.

"Oh good, you're awake! I know this must be very confusing, but my name is Gabriella Mason, I found you outside down near-" But Holly interrupted her.

"It's okay, Miss, your Blitzle here already explained everything." She told her, feeling her voice become hoarse. Gabriella gave Holly a bemused look, darting her eyes from Holly to the Blitzle. She shook her head and pointed towards the door behind her.

"Well, I just finished some Kalos onion soup, but if you're still feeling sick then I can get you some dry toast to go with those saltines, if you'd like." She offered. Holly shook her head, but stopped as it made her nauseous, and thanked her for everything she had done.

"Not a problem. We'll talk more in the morning, if you're feeling better, but in the meantime get some more rest." And made to leave, turning back towards the Bltizle. "Come on, Blitzle." She added and left with the friendly Pokemon in tow, who bade Holly good night as well. The door closed, leaving Holly all alone with Pokemon in the darkened room.

"Shouldn't you guys stay outside?" Holly asked amidst her coughing. "I don't want you guys to end up sick too." Louis snorted again, and laid his head on Holly's stomach while Marina snuggled in beside her.

"Don't be silly, Miss, Pokemon have much stronger immune systems than humans do. It'll take more than that for us to catch the sniffles."

"I'd hardly call this the sniffles." She grumbled as she adjusted her pillow, but stopped when she noticed a certain someone was laying at the far corner of the bed. Violet was laying at the end with his head on his paws and was obviously getting ready to sleep, but Holly raised an eyebrow at him.

"What are you doing all the way over there? It's much warmer over here, you know, where we're all in one spot." She informed him. He looked at them all curiously and shrugged his shoulders.

"I mean," He said. "I've only just joined your guys' little party here, I figured it'd be awkward if I just..." His voice trailed off and Holly simply rolled her eyes at him.

"Oh stop being a dummy and get over here." She muttered and patted a spot just beside her, where Violet bounded over almost immediately, nuzzling himself into Holly. Nobody said anything after this, and soon all of them slipped off into a warm slumber, even Holly, who was half worried about what ever other scenarios might occur in her dreams, especially in her sickened state. Eventually though, the mixture of the rhythmic sounds of her friends breathing, their warmth, and her desire for sleep, lulled her into a peaceful rest.

* * *

The next few days were spent convalescing for Holly. Her body seemed to be rooted to the bed like a weight, and was only able to get up to use the bathroom that, thankfully, laid right across from her room. On her short excursions she hardly had the energy focus on anything but getting to and from the bathroom, but was spared from having to by her Pokemon who confirmed that the Day Care was indeed just a Day Care, and not some sort of contrived holding cell made to trick her by the police. Only later would she realize just how silly the idea actually sounded when she said it aloud.

Everything seemed sedated in Holly's mind. She found herself falling asleep at random intervals throughout the day with either sluggish dreams that seemed to take forever to end, and others that seemed wild and rapid in their coming and going. Several of them seemed to be variants of the dreams she initially had, with similar situations or outcomes that Holly didn't like to think about afterwards. When she awoke she would stay completely still and stare at the ceiling for extended periods of time, her mind often wondering about the various happenings that had taken place in her life recently.

It seemed to be the only thing Holly could keep her mind focused on, that and what the future held for them. Everything that had been thrown at her the past week just seemed like a bad dream, one where waking up was just taking a step into something slightly worse. The same old feeling of apprehensiveness seemed to cloud over her again as she took in the possibility that she had been over reacting when she had left her father's house, but she quickly shook it away only for the worry of the future to take its place. It was almost as scary as thinking about the past, but whereas the past was set in stone, the future was only filled with infinite possibilities. Would she die out there? It seemed unlikely, but hadn't someone close to her already died? Hadn't Creevy been killed because she was careless?

The Blitzle made several check-ups on Holly throughout the day, be it to bring her food or just to see how she was doing, Holly had to admit that she began to enjoy her company. She wasn't as old as Louis, but not as young as Marina or Violet either, then again Holly couldn't calculate Pokemon years so for all she knew she could have been older than all of her Pokemon combined. The Blitzle was quiet, but in the right way. She didn't seem awkward or uncomfortable around Holly, nor did she seem repulsed or nosy. She responded if Holly wanted a quick word, and was a very excellent listener whenever Holly needed to about something. And sure enough, Holly was soon telling her of some of the troubles she had experienced. Never specifics as she felt they weren't necessary, but the Blitzle sympathized with her regardless and gave a rather comforting presence overall.

Unfortunately this didn't take away from Holly still being bedridden, an experience she found to be absolutely miserable. The evening after Holly gained consciousness Gabriella came in and told Holly to open her mouth, looking into the back of her throat with a tiny flashlight. She did several other tests of this nature and after a few minutes, concluded by saying, "Just as I thought. Well, I'm not a nurse by any means, but I can recognize strep throat and the flu when I see it."

"That's bad, isn't it?" Holly asked. She had had the flu before, but having strep was new to her. She hated it. She wasn't entirely surprised though, she had been out in the wet and cold for a near week, getting sick was an inevitable.

"Well, the good news is you're almost out of the woods. Couple more days of rest, some antibiotics, should be back on your feet."

And sure enough Holly was beginning to feel the sickness ebb away within a few days. She was relieved, as while getting to lay in a warm bed all day was an experience she had missed since the start of her adventure, she felt herself getting restless. She would often ask her Pokemon about everything that happened outside of her tiny cabin-like room.

"Everyone's so nice here, Holly!" Marina told her one next evening. "Miss Gabriella is usually busy during the day so we usually go and help next store with the other Day Care!"

"There's another Day Care?" Holly asked. She couldn't imagine why someone would put two Day Care's next to each other, but she imagined the competition must be furious.

"Yes indeed, I believe her parents run it." Louis answered. "Miss Gabriella runs this Day Care, which tends to young humans whose parents are too busy or too rich to do it themselves, and her mother and father run the Day Care next door. They help tend to Pokemon whose trainer's are also too busy, and or rich, to do it themselves." He raised an eyebrow to Holly as though she had suggested she put them all in Day Care for a few weeks. Holly stuck her tongue out at him. Violet decided to chip in his two cents as well.

"Oh yes, very nice people. Mr. and Mrs. Mason often have us play with the other Pokemon, or in Louis' case, sit in the sun and bark at anyone who accidentally goes near his tail."

"You better believe it. Last time someone stepped on my tail I nearly bit there whole leg off." He shot at Violet.

"Then you decided to run away with them because you felt bad afterwards, right Louis?" Holly quipped. Louis gave a low grunt while Violet and Marina giggled and rolled around on the floor.

Finally, the day came when Holly in peak condition. Her throat no longer felt like someone had stabbed it with an Ariados' stinger, her sinuses were clear, and she hadn't thrown up in a full two days. Gabriella and Blitzle complimented her on her recovery and brought her into a private bedroom that puzzled Holly. As far as she knew, only Gabriella lived at the Day Care, the other assistants went home after three. Did the bedroom Holly was staying in belong to someone else?

Gabriella sat on the edge of the bed, and Blitzle alongside her while Holly took to the wooden chair across from them. The room they were in was cold, and despite the fact sunlight shone through the open window, it seemed dark and lonely. Holly noticed her room was far more organized and clean than the one she had been staying in, and had none of the posters or character the other had. It was like the room itself hadn't been cared for in quite a while.

"So, now that you're feeling better, what are you going to do? I'm guessing you're on the League Challenge, right?" Gabriella asked. Holly nodded. There seemed to be some sort of tension in the air, and Holly had a sneaking suspicious that she knew what it was. She answered honestly, telling them that she and her Pokemon were in fact taking the challenge. Blitzle looked worried, and Holly felt some of that worry creep up on herself. What exactly was going on here? Gabriella looked like she was truly struggling with something internal as she sat for a minute, hand over her mouth in thought.

"It's not- Well, I mean to say... What's the real story?" She finally asked. Holly realized her fears were in fact true; Gabriella had surely seen the news story.

"About me?" Holly could feel her nerves spiking up. Talking made her nervous.

"Yes." Gabriella said plainly. Holly felt that lying would get her nowhere, and decided to start at the beginning.

"Do you mind if I start at the beginning?"

"By all means, do.

"Right, uh... well I guess things kind of started to suck around the second of September, so a week and a half ago, and it was my birthday, and uh..." And so her story begin. She didn't leave anything out, from how her mother died to how she had planned on going back to her father after arriving in Striaton, only to see he had singled her out as a sadistic freak with a tendency to hurt people and Pokemon alike. Holly had to admit that the two of them were an excellent audience, gasping or shaking their heads at all the right moments, and when she reached the fate of Creevy, she felt the tears start to swell up again. She wiped them away with her hoodie sleeve and was about to apologize for being such a crybaby, when Blitzle walked over and placed her head along Holly's leg comfortingly.

Gabriella mostly remained quiet throughout, and when Holly concluded her story she simply laid back on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. Blitzle and Holly exchanged glances, and remained silent until Gabriella finally spoke up.

"Look, I believe you. I'm not the best at detecting liars or anything, my mother actually holds that honor, but unless you're some hidden master at improvising something tells me you didn't just make that up on the spot." She stated. She paused for a second and put her hands over her eyes and sighed.

"The news says you're a disturbed bi-polar teenager who enjoys kicking baby Pokemon and would tackle your grandmother for just for saying the weather is pleasant..." Gabriella told her. Holly wanted to kick a wall and scream at the unfairness of the media believing something with little to no proof, but decided this probably wouldn't look good for someone trying to prove they weren't a psychopath, and stayed silent.

"... But I don't believe that. Blitzle, clearly, likes you and I trust her judgement for the most part. Not to mention your own Pokemon seem to trust you completely, but most importantly you've not given me a reason not to trust you." Grabriella said firmly. "I do run a day care though, and if parents find out I'm letting what people think is a dangerous teenager around their children, my Swanna is cooked."

Holly had figured something like this would come up, and had already slightly prepared for it.

"It's fine, really. You've done more than enough for me already, just point me in the direction of Nacrene City, and I'll be out of you hair." Holly offered. Gabriella waved the it away however.

"No, I'd feel much better if I knew I wasn't sending you out just to catch another cold. Stay for a few more days, you can make up for it by helping out my folks next store during the day if you'd like. They're not exactly getting younger, and an extra pair of hands would really make their day. Besides, that gets you out during the day which lowers the risk of you getting caught by one of the kids, and then during the evenings you can come back and take a load off. Deal?" She sat back up and stuck her hand out firm, with Blitzle smiling and looking at Holly expectantly, who immediately extended her own and shook.

"Deal." She replied. It was easily a smarter choice then going off into Route 3 the day she got better, risking getting sick again. She was surprised Gabriella was sticking her neck out in such a big way for her, and couldn't help but wonder what drove her to do it. Perhaps she was just a genuinely nice person, and wanted to help someone who was less fortunate than her, that was certainly probable. But something else seemed to be at play here, some key element Holly was missing.

She didn't let it bother her too much though, as at six the next morning she was woken up by Blitzle who smiled sleepily down at Holly.

"Rise and shine, Holly. Time for work." She murmured. Holly blinked open her eyes groggily and waved her arm around in an attempt to push Blitzle away from her.

"Noethenkhuu..." Holly mumbled. Blitzle giggled, and nudged Holly with her muzzle. Nothing. Blitzle sighed and shook her head.

"If you insist..." She muttered. One bolt of lighting, several screams of surprise, and a stubbed toe later, Holly was wide awake and dragging her slightly burnt smelling self to the bathroom where she got ready to take a shower. It was odd, how the simple things people took for granted such as showers and a warm bed became sought after periods of bliss when you were out on your own. Holly relished in the warm water running down her back for a while, finally drying off and getting her clothes back on. Gabriella had given her a spare sweater that was too small for her which replaced her tank top, but she kept her torn hoodie, and set of jeans she had been wearing before, along with her trusty grey beanie..

She waved a silent greeting to her as she walked outside the door and followed Blitzle to the building next door. The morning itself was still dark and foggy, with the grass surrounding them laced with morning dew. The other Day Care seemed to be a bit more run down than Gabriella's house, but had the same cozy feel of the bedroom Holly stayed in. Mr. and Mrs. Mason were already up and about, carrying pails of water and food from their tiny kitchen through the backdoor. Mrs. Mason looked up as soon as they entered and gave a gasp of surprise and rushed over.

"Goodness me! You must be Holly, oh it's such a pleasure to finally meet you! Gabby told us so much about you, and your Pokemon are just the sweetest dears, and Willard and your Lillipup get along so well I'd have thought they were brothers! Thank you Blitzle, would you like a biscuit before you go?" Blitzle happily accepted a biscuit and bid Holly farewell through the dough stuffed in her mouth as she left to go help Gabriella get ready for the day.

"What about you Holly, care for a biscuit? I always make ham egg and cheese biscuits, been doing it since Gabby was a preschooler, and they're right delicious if I do say so myself." Holly took a biscuit and thanked Mrs. Mason, and had to admit that when she took a bite it was indeed "right delicious". Mrs. Mason lead Holly through the back door and out into a wide open stretch of grass behind the building, and Holly was shocked at how many Pokemon were there. There was certainly more than she had ever seen in one place, at least thirty or forty.

Mrs. Mason lead Holly through the jobs she would be doing throughout the day, whilst pointing out individual Pokemon and certain preferences that they had. Pidoves didn't usually wake up until noon and hated to be woken up early, Sawk and Throh were like peas in a pod and any attempt to separate them would probably end in several broken ribs. Leavanny had a sore throat and needed certain medicine their trainer had given to them every 12 hours, and absolutely under no circumstances was she to let Marowak near any of the females.

"Most of what you'll be doing is just playing with the Pokemon, really. We generally all feed them at six sharp, well the ones who are awake at least, at noon, and then at six in the evening." Mrs. Mason informed her. "They all belong to trainers, so I wouldn't worry too much about injuries, really. Your own Pokemon should be over any minute, now. Let's see if I'm missing anything, nope, don't think so. Any questions?" She asked.

"Not a one." Holly answered, smiling at the older woman. Mrs. Mason had just described a reasonably fun way to spend one's day, and Holly was more than happy to help the elderly couple out. Mrs. Mason cupped Holly's cheek and smiled.

"Awfully sweet of you. Well, I'll be off then. Willard is probably eating all of the biscuits, bless him, that man puts eating above breathing I swear." Mrs. Mason left to head back inside, leaving Holly to the mass of Pokemon before her.

A sort of routine began to form at that point. Every morning Blitzle would wake her up, she would take a nice warm shower, and then head off to help the Masons. First she would go the Mightyena named "Randy" whom she would play fetch with for a while, then she would go and play tag with the Mareep who were surprisingly fast. Then her own Pokemon would arrive, Marina absolutely loved playing with the other Water Types, and for some odd reason a Meowth kept losing her medallion, which suspiciously kept happening near Violet. Violet denied all accusations of being involved, until finally Holly caught him hiding it under his curled up tail.

Mrs. Mason wasn't lying about Louis and her husband, Willard. At around eleven each day they would both end up at the same spot, with Willard lying against a fallen tree log and Louis curled up on top of it right next to him. Holly thought it was far too cute to interrupt, and left them be with a smirk on her face. At noon, Holly would enjoy a break inside the warmth of the Mason's kitchen where Mrs. Mason would have a sandwich or soup already prepared for her and Willard.

"Now, this kid was faster than anything I've ever seen. But I had a secret up my sleeve, you see." Willard was telling Holly one afternoon. "My trusty Diglett, may he rest in peace, was waiting up ahead. So I readied myself, and told the boy right there, 'I accept.' So in a flash the both of us were off! I can't remember running faster in my life, let me tell you!"

"Willard, you're not bothering Holly with that silly old bicycle story are you?" Mrs. Mason called from the other room.

"Wouldn't dream of it dear!" He replied with a wink to Holly. "Anyway, so we're off and he's already beating me by a long shot, when suddenly my Diglett who had been secretly planting holes in the ground ahead of us as I instructed him to, pops up beside me. I knew the job was done, so I paced myself, waited the sound of someone falling into a hole."

"And you heard it?" Holly asked as she took a bite of her potato soup.

"Oh I heard it alright, when I let out a scream as my foot went straight into a hole, leaving me with a twisted ankle!" He chuckled and poured his own bowl back, draining the soup into his mouth. "The kid decided my tactics, though shady, proved my sheer willpower and determination were so strong that he ended up giving me the bike anyway!"

"You mean he felt so bad that you couldn't even train your Diglett to properly follow directions that he gave you the bike out of sheer pity, right dear?" Mrs. Mason corrected as she strode by.

"Aw, a kid that fast didn't even need a bike." Willard muttered as his cheeks flushed. Holly snorted and choked on her soup, resulting in a slap on the back from Willard. After going out to tend to the Pokemon some more, with several shenanigans involving Violet and the same Meowth. Only once was there a dispute Holly had to break up. A big Wartortle with bulging muscles assumed Marina was trying to take his place as the most popular Water Type around, and had hurled several insults at her that ended up with Marina sniffling and walking away from the pond. Holly made to intervene, but Violet acted first, hurling a large golden object Holly later found out to be Meowth's coin, right at the Wartortle's mug.

It turned out the Watortle was much better at throwing words than punches and Holly had to try and attempt to soothe a sobbing, apologetic, Wartortle, a task much easier said than done. Later, after making sure Marina was alright, Holly went to Violet. On one hand, she couldn't blame him for sticking up for Marina and was actually fairly proud of him for doing so. On the other hand, throwing large chunks of metal at Pokemon wasn't behavior she normally condoned.

"So just let me try and deal with it next time, okay?" Holly asked. Violet nodded after apologizing to both her and the Wartortle several times of his own accord. The Meowth, surprisingly seemed more impressed with him for his gall than angry at the fact that he had chucked her coin. When Holly left she distinctly heard her say, "Wow, that was pretty brave to defend your sister like that!"

Sister, huh? Holly supposed it was only natural the others assumed that they were related. Her Pokemon had all begun to form close bonds with one another, and though Violet was a relatively new addition to their gang, Holly was proud that Marina and Louis were welcoming him so warmly now, despite their begrudging approval of his joining. Holly began thinking about them all being considered a "family", and wondered about their individual spots. She supposed Violet and Marina being closer in age were similar to siblings, and Holly herself was a big sister of sorts to them. What would that make Louis then? The lazy uncle? Or maybe a father figure of some degree.

Every evening, after a day usually like this, Holly would go back next door to Gabriella's Day Care where she would volunteer to help Gabriella help clean up and prepare dinner. She couldn't quite tell if Gabriella resented her in some way, or perhaps simply pitied her. There was simply some odd feelings between the two of them that Holly couldn't distinguish. Afterwards, Gabriella would thank Holly, bid her a good night, and let Blitzle lead her to her room. Holly had truly gown to like the Electric Type Pokemon, who reminded her of a kindly caretaker of some sorts that watched over everyone. They would chat occasionally at night before going to bed, but for the most part swapped warm smiles and waves before falling asleep, being woken up, and starting over again.

Holly had been doing this routine for about a week when one morning Mrs. Mason spotted her shivering on her way in.

"Goodness, Holly, aren't you freezing? The weather man said it'd get down in the forties this morning!" She exclaimed. Holly shrugged, the nights before Creevy had been just as cold if not colder.

"I'll manage. Gabriella gave me a spare sweater so at least my arm isn't as cold now." She said, waving her arm as proof. Holly thought it looked a bit odd, a hoodie with one sleeve missing and a white sweater underneath it, but who was she to complain? She'd take being a bit warmer over how she looked any day.

"Oh, your jacket isn't torn on purpose? I thought that was just some new style that had grown popular with the kids, if I had known you were out there in the mornings I'd have..." She trailed off and made towards her bedroom, likely to wake Willard up Holly guessed. Holly grabbed the bag of Pokemon food in her arms and was about to begin her daily schedule when Mrs. Mason showed back up with something brown and folded in her arms.

"Here you go, Holly. This ought to keep you a bit warmer, I should think." She told her, handing her the object. Holly took it, curious, and unfolded it to reveal a thick brown aviator jacket. It was a nice shade of hickory, with cream colored fuzz outlining the neck and inside that was so warm Holly would have thought it were alive. She didn't know what to say, and managed to sputter out a few words after staring at the jacket for a solid minute.

"I-it's warm." She said stupidly. Mrs. Mason smiled and pointed at the furry collar and interior, informing her that the fuzz was actually the fur of an Arcanine whose fur stayed warm many years after it was sheared.

"It belong to my daughter, actually. Goodness knows she always dreamed of flying up in the clouds, and we got her that for her sixteenth birthday. Willard was all for it, wanted his little girl to see the sights and sounds all over Unova, and beyond..." She said, her voice filled with whimsy and of memories from long ago. Holly was almost reminded of Louis, who she often caught being lost in thought or thinking of the past.

"I didn't know Gabriella wanted to do that. Why'd she start up a Day Care then?" Holly asked, surprised. She never would have guessed the owner of the Day Care would ever have had such an exciting dream, only to leave it for running a Day care. Mrs. Mason seemed just as surprised by Holly's words and looked at her curiously.

"Gabriella? Oh no no, I'm talking about her sister Casey. Actually, I'm pretty sure Gabbi started running a Day Care _because_ of Casey. She had a very nurturing and mother-like quality about her that seemed to rub off on her Pokemon, and I think Gabbi was so set on remembering her sister that she herself wanted to take on some of her qualities, so she started a Day Care for children right next to ours. Why, you're sleeping in Casey's room during the nights aren't you? Whose room did you think it was?" Mrs. Mason said, wiping a couple of tears out of her eyes.

"Why do you think Blitzle acts so motherly? Got it all from Casey." Said Willard, who had just strolled into the room with a cup of coffee. "I suspect that's why Gabbi keeps Blitzle around so much, reminds her of Case." He took a long sip and pointed at Holly when he was done, nodding.

"Cripes, if you grew your hair out and put in a tail, you'd look just like her. Maybe without the freckles."He noted. He sighed and took another sip of his coffee. "Arceus, I miss Casey." Mrs. Mason nodded and blew her nose on a tissue, giving a smile to Holly whose face had gone completely red throughout the exchange.

"Sorry, Holly. When you get as old as us, you tend to reminisce a lot more. You're welcome to keep it, you know. It's not like it's of any use just strung up in a closet, collecting dust." She said, pointing at the jacket.

Holly's face shot up in surprise and she quickly shook her head. "Oh no, I couldn't! It belonged to your daughter, I couldn't jus-" But Willard cut her off.

"Nonsense, she'd have probably bitten our heads off for not giving it to someone who actually needed it already. You take that jacket, and wear it proud, you got it?" He said, finishing his coffee and heading outside to the Pokemon. Mrs. Mason nodded in agreement and back to her bedroom, leaving Holly alone in the kitchen. Things seemed to click in place like pieces of a puzzle, and as Holly went out to begin her routine her thoughts drifted to Casey. She wondered if they would have gotten along. She wondered if it was actually okay for her to wear her jacket. she secretly hoped so, because it was far too warm not to.

The rest of the day seemed to go as normal as any of the previous ones, playing with the various Pokemon and keeping her own out of trouble. Things seemed to sail smoothly though, with little to no problems arising as far as she saw. She ate a quiet but peaceful lunch with Willard and Mrs. Mason, today's was Kalos onion soup that as usual, tasted amazing. Then she returned for a few hours to the field, where she spotted Violet and the Meowth curled up while basking in the suns rays. She smiled sweetly at the pair, and continued her run through each of the Pokemon, with the only other thing of interest was when she had to stop a Trapinch and a Mawile from biting eacho other.

At about three though, things changed. The sound of her name being called reached her ears and she turned on the spot to see Blitzle in the doorway. Holly knew it must be important, Blitzle was usually too busy helping at the Day Care to come over to the... Day Care. Only now did Holly realize how confusing that sounded in her head. She rushed to the door with her Pokemon, who must have sensed something serious was going on, right on her tail.

"Oh good, you're all here! Gabriella told me to come and get you immediately, something has happened." And without another word, she whipped out the door. Holly gave a quick wave of farewell to the Masons, and shot out after Blitzle. It didn't take but a few seconds to get to other Day Care, but it seemed like she had ran to a different world when she got there; Gabriella was pacing in the entrance hallway and hardly even noticed they had come in until they were right upon her.

In the near two weeks she had spent at the Masons, even though part of it had been consumed by her being sick, she had never seen Gabriella like this. Her face was panic-stricken and seemed to be covered in a cold sweat, and was running her hands through her hair. Holly recognized the signals immediately, she had seen her mother go through them whenever she didn't have enough money for the landlord or her dealer. It truly unnerved her seeing Gabriella like this, apparently it did Blitzle to for she went over and rubbed her head sympathetically against the stressed Day Care owner's thigh.

"Holly, you've got-" She paused and blinked a few a times, and looked at Holly as if it was the first time she had ever seen her. Holly didn't know what on earth she was staring at until she looked down herself and remembered. _I'm still wearing the jacket!_ She wanted to explain how her parents had given it to her, but from the sound of it there was something more important at hand. She gave a slight cough which seemed to snap Gabriella out of her weird trance, she shook her head, and started over.

"Sorry, uh, somebody came by. A private investigator, hired to look for you." She said. Holly felt her heart drop like a a rock, and her mind race a mile a minute.

"What did they say, d-do they know I'm here?!" Holly asked. Fear had begun creeping up through her body and was grabbing hold of her desperately.

"I think, I don't... I don't know. He said he'd been watching around for you, showed us a picture, and asked if you'd been by. I said no, but I don't think he believed me." She said this all very quickly, and Holly could tell she was just as scared as Holly was, and who could blame her? If law enforcement found out she had been harboring what everyone else thought was a criminal, her Day Care would be shut down immediately.

Without a word, Holly rushed to Casey's room, the room she had been staying in for a week and a half. She figured something like this would happen, but she had tried to push it aside, desperately clinging onto the possibility she could stay at Mason's. To stay would be foolish though, they had been incredibly kind to Holly, and she wasn't about to repay them by getting them arrested by association. She put Marina and Louis in their balls, it'd be quicker to carry them this way.

"Sorry Violet, you're gonna have to wait until we get you a ball. Hope you don't mind a bit of exercise." She said as she grabbed her satchel. Violet shrugged, saying, "Could be worse." Holly silently agreed that it could indeed be worse, and quickly searched around to make sure she hadn't missed anything. All of her canned food and effects were in order, and nothing seemed to be missing. She quickly swung the bag around her shoulder and bolted towards the front door. Gabriella and Blitzle were there waiting for her.

"I'm sorry, Holly-" Gabriella began, but Holly cut her off.

"It's fine. Really. You've done more than enough for me and my Pokemon, and I don't want to risk you or your parents getting dragged down with me. Just say I broke in and forced you to house me, if you have to." Holly figured her name was already slandered enough, a bit more wouldn't hurt, especially if it ended up helping.

"It's not just that, I just... I know I've been giving you weird looks and glances since you arrived. I'm guessing my parents finally told you?" Asked Gabriella. Holly nodded, and began to speak up but this time it was Gabriella's turn to cut Holly off.

"I've never really gotten over Case, I mean, I just wish I could apologize for being a terrible older sister and never really being there for her. Guess starting a Day Care was my way of doing that..." She sniffed and gave a hollow laugh. Holly made to take off the jacket and hand it to her, but the moment Gabriella saw what she was trying to do she stopped her.

"No. No, that's yours now. Casey would want you to have it, plus I don't think I can bare to see that thing strung up in my parents closet any more." She patted Holly's shoulder and went to open the door for her. Holly walked out with Violet following her, and someone else. Everyone looked in surprise to see Blitzle walking out after Holly, and sitting next to her when she stopped. Gabriella spoke first.

"Blitzle no, please..." But Blitzle didn't stir. "Come on, you're all I have left of her." Her voice was filled with pain and made Holly want to go over and give her a hug, but Blitzle seemed determined on her intent. She strode over, and placed her head against Gabriella's knee. She heard Gabriella give a little sob, and saw her wrap her arms around the Blitzle's neck. She seemed to be whispering to the Pokemon, with only a few parts audible enough for Holly to hear like "should have known" and "you're not a support blanket". Gabriella wiped her tears, gave Blitzle one last squeeze before letting her go off to Holly's side.

"You sure you want to come with?" Holly asked as Blitzle walked back over to her.

"Of course, from the sounds of it you'll need me. Plus, Gabriella has to learn to let go sometime, and now's that time." Blitzle replied. She and her Pokemon waved goodbye to Gabriella, and Holly even felt Marina and Louis wave from inside their capsules. Slowly, they turned and began walking down the stairs that lead to Route 3. Everything seemed to have happened so fast, not even fifteen minutes ago she had been playing with the Pokemon in the Mason's Day Care, and now she was on the run again with Blitzle on her team. She hated when things happened too fast like that, it was like fast forwarding through a movie a few scenes and not understanding everything that was going on.

Soon, the Day Care was left behind them (Holly and Blitzle turned back for one last look) and they were among the trees and hills of Route 3. They had barely entered when Holly heard a voice behind her calling her name, a male voice. With all the speed she could muster, she closed her eyes dashed forward, right into a big sign in the middle of the Route with some pointless info plastered on the front. Holly clutched her forehead and rolled around on the ground, her eyes jammed shut in pain. She heard Violet and Blitzle asking if she was okay, but she wasn't because that voice was getting closer and closer...

"Arceus, do you even look where you're going?" A familiarly voice asked. Holly opened her eyes in shock and let out a groan. Not here, surely not now. She'd rather take the cops than this. Unfortunately when was helped to her feet by her Pokemon, who else was she greeted by but the ever talented and stunning Cheren. She wanted to spit on him.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be miles away from me by now?" She grumbled, dusting off her new jacket and setting her beanie straight. Cheren rolled his eyes as if it was a stupid question and jabbed him thumb behind him.

"Turns out me and Bianca missed a Pokemon back at Striaton. So I came back to capture it, and capture it I did." He spun a pokeball on his finger before catching it in his hand. "But, enough about me, what about you? Criminal life treating you good?" He asked, looking her up and down. She couldn't tell if he was deliberately trying to piss her off, or if that was just his normal attitude shining through.

"You don't seriously believe that nonsense, do you? You know full well my dad made all of that up just so he could have an excuse to get on the news and make me look bad!" She snapped at him. He didn't seem fazed by her outburst and rolled his eyes. His smugness seemed to be overflowing and he pulled a pokeball from his pocket, tossing it into the air and catching it.

"Sure, whatever you say. But you know, murdering a Pokemon, from a high status group like Plasma no less, doesn't exactly help your case." She wanted to shout that it was her Pokemon, not Team Plasma's, but he didn't give her the chance. "Tell you what, let's battle. I win, I get to turn you in. I lose, well, I guess you get to walk free. Sound good?"

Holly was so mad that she didn't even bother arguing. Two clicks and the padding of feet alerted Holly that Marina and Louis had left their balls of their own accord, no doubt just as ready to fight as Holly was. Cheren threw his pokeball forward, and out popped his Snivy, Baron, looking just as posh and uptight as his owner. Holly pointed forward and spoke a single word, "Marina", indicating her choice. Marina walked softly forward and at Holly's command, began the battle.

"Water Gun!" Holly shouted, and a spray of water shot through the air where it almost collided with the Snivy, who slithered out of the way just in time and planted himself firmly into the grass.

"Typical Holly, using the strongest move she knows. Don't you realize there's more to battling then just using the same powerful move, over and over? Growth." He commanded. Holly didn't see much of anything change in the Snivy, it looked exactly the same size as it had before. "Not to mention," He added as the Snivy shot a long vine-like tendril out of it's stubby little arm and slapped it like a whip against Marina. "You forgot your type advantages." Holly winced as the vine emitted a loud cracking noise as it made contact with Marina, knocking her several feet back and leaving a nasty scratch across her cheek.

"Marina! Oh no, oh no..." Holly muttered. She quickly recalled her Water Type and sent out Louis who rushed past her and sunk his teeth right into Baron. Cheren seemed caught off guard by sudden change in odds and for a second was at a lost. It was only for a second though, and soon Louis had been thrown against the ground by one of the vines.

"Try, uh... Take Down?" She suggested. She heard Louis call back, "Good choice, Miss!" and watched as he slammed himself, full force into the opposing Snivy. It rocketed backwards, rolling against the grass and scuffing up dirt until finally coming to a stop a few feet away from Cheren. Cheren clicked his tongue and returned his battered Snivy to its ball. Holly's eyebrows raised, she hadn't expected it to actually work. With a twinge of guilt, she noticed a small trickle of blood leaking from Louis' forehead.

"Is Marina alright you two?" She called back to Violet and Blitzle. If something happened to Marina because she hadn't been paying attention, well, she didn't think she could take another Creevy...

"She's doing fine!" Came the reply. Holly let out a breath of relief, at least now she could focus on the battle. Cheren had already thrown in his Purrloin, and Louis was standing steady and firm in front of Holly. The Purrloin didn't waste a second in rearing its way over to Louis, and Holly barely had time to tell him to move, dodging a hit from its tail. The Purrloin hissed and crept forward, apparently not eager to let its prey slip away twice. It pounced, but Holly and Louis were ready. With a quick-timed roll, Louis wound up behind the Purrloin as it attempted to jump him, giving him the perfect chance to bite down hard on its tail.

The Purrloin screeched and tried to shake Louis off, but as small as he was he wasn't going anywhere quick and held the Purrloin down. Over and over the Purrloin tried to escape, but evidently it was no use as soon it simply gave up and slumped over in pitiful defeat.

"You cannot be serious." Cheren groaned as he recalled his Purrloin. "I trained you guys way better then this, don't give up on me when it counts!" With a flick of his hand, he tossed a ball onto the field and revealed his Snivy who was still covered in dirt.

"Cheren, don't you think you've worked them enough? He clearly looks tired and-" Holly tried to intervene but Cheren was dead set on continuing, telling his Snivy to rush forward. Holly noticed that Louis himself looked a little tired and called him back, sending out Violet. Holly expected the battle to be drawn out longer with Baron the Snivy using every bit of sheer willpower he could muster. Instead, Violet gave was quick swipe across the face, and Baron fell over. Holly almost laughed at the anti-climactic ending of their battle, but seeing the severity of the situation, decided it might not be the best time.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" Cheren muttered and kicked a chunk of dirt out of the ground with his foot. He sighed and returned his Snivy to its ball, Holly noticing that Violet left a decent gash along its nose before it disappeared inside its ball. Cheren glared at Holly like she had committed some foul act, and pocketed his pokeballs.

"Well congratulations, you've managed to beat me. Guess you get to walk free and go drown more Woobats or whatever it is the news says you do." He dusted off his pants and looked behind Holly where Blitzle was standing next to a now on her feet Marina. He pointed a finger at Blitzle and nodded before saying, "Nice Pokemon, did you steal it?" Blitzle frowned, as did the rest of Holly's Pokemon.

"No, of course not! She volunteered to come with me." Holly felt hurt, even if she despised Cheren she didn't want him to actually think she stole Pokemon, or that she harmed them in any way like the news said she did. Surely he was smarter than that?

He scoffed again, and gathered his things before walking past her and her Pokemon.

"Hope she knows what she's getting into then." He said. Holly wasn't sure what to make of what he said. Did he mean the fact that the police were after them, or that they were trekking through the region on their own? Or did he truly believe what the news was saying and was trying to warn Blitzle about it? Somehow, she doubted it. She didn't have too much time to think it over, because soon she felt herself being thrown to the ground as someone ran into her without stopping. She cradled her head, which had landed against the sign she had ran into earlier and opened her eyes to see that Cheren had been pushed over as well. Holly's Pokemon circled around her and she felt herself begin lifted up by Blitzle, who had grabbed Holly's collar with her teeth like how a Pyroar would lift her cubs by their scruff.

"Are you okay, Holly?" Marina asked. Holly nodded and rubbed the side of her head, wishing the pain would ease off.

"Sure, yeah... I'm fine. What hit me?" She asked. Violet flicked his tail behind them, where two hooded figures in familiar looking uniforms were running at top speed.

"Plasma." Holly muttered. Louis nodded, his ears suddenly flicking as he tasted the air. He turned to where the two figures had came from and warned Holly, "Someone else too, miss." Holly turned to see who else but Bianca dashing towards them with a little girl close behind her. Holly heard Cheren groan, and watched as he stood back up and dusted off his pants, cursing under his breath.

"Hey! Excuse me, did you see where those two people went- Holly!" Bianca skidded to a stop as she reached Holly, a smile growing across her face. The little girl next to her stopped and put her hands on her knees to catch her breath while Bianca gave Holly a big hug. Holly faintly recalled the fever dream she had had that Bianca was in, and felt her face flush as Bianca squeezed Holly.

"Oh, Holly dear it feels like ages since I last saw you! Oh, but no time for catching up now I'm afraid!" Her smile vanished and she turned to see Cheren walk over towards them. "And there's Cheren! Cheren, I'm glad you're here!"

"How I wish I could say the same." He muttered as he popped his back. "Please, please tell me everyone thought this was just a good morning for a run, and you don't have something to do with the two bas-" He paused and looked down at the girl beside Bianca, who blinked at him several times. "Er, people, who just pushed us aside?" His eyes flicked up at Bianca who gave him a worrying frown and shook her head.

"I'm sorry Cheren, but the fact of the matter is those two just went and stole this girl's Pokemon!" Bianca exclaimed. The little girl's face scrunched up and little tears began falling from her eyes, along with short gasps and quick breaths. She was going to cry.

"Oh no, please don't cry!" The girl cried anyway. "I promise, we'll get your Pokemon back, see? Me and my friends are going to get it back pronto, and if there's one thing I never do, it's break a promise!" Bianca smiled and tried to cheer the girl up, but it was no use. She simply kept bawling into her tiny little hands until Holly felt someone slip past her, Blitzle, who went right up to the girl and knelt down, laying beside the girl and laying her head gently against the little girl's shoulder. The little girl ceased crying immediately, much to everyone's surprise including her own.

"Mew above, that's some Pokemon you have there Holly." Bianca whispered. Holly nodded, and could have sworn she heard the faintest grunt of admiration from Cheren. The little girl gave a slight giggle and hugged Blitzle's neck, who smiled back and returned to Holly's side. Holly gave a little thumbs up to Blitzle, and saw several of her own Pokemon smiling at the Electric Type as well, Louis was staring at her as though she had just soothed a raging Dragonite.

Cheren sighed and took off his glasses, rubbing his thumb and index finger against the bridge of his nose. When he was done he stuck his glasses that seemed to glow crimson in the light of the setting sun back on his face and turned to Bianca.

"Well, you're absolutely right Bianca. We are indeed going to do everything we can to get your Pokemon back, er, little girl. Bianca," He motioned towards her with his hand. "If you would kindly stay by this young girl's side, me and Holly are going to get that Pokemon back." Bianca seemed to have no problem with this setup at all. She healed both Holly and Cheren's Pokemon, wished them luck, and sat down next to the sign with the girl. Holly distinctly heard her ask if her parents knew she was out on Route 3, but didn't get to hear the answer as Cheren had already sprinted off in the opposite direction, with Holly right on his tail.

"Don't worry, I'm not trying to lure you off alone or anything." He muttered to Holly as they shot up the stars. Holly had indeed been worrying about this, but just because he said so didn't mean that she believed him. Another question was tugging at Holly's mind however.

"Well then why not go call the police or something?" Holly asked as her Pokemon sprinted beside her. Cheren shrugged.

"By the time we call the police, those thieves will be long gone. I'm not trying to play vigilante or anything, but I assume we have a much better chance at getting the Pokemon back right now then the cops will a half hour later. That and seeing children cry isn't something I like to look at for long periods of time." He told her. Holly narrowed her eyes as they jumped over a fallen pine log.

"You sure do like seeing your friends cry though, don't you? If you can even call us that." She quipped. Cheren said nothing and instead focused onto moving straight ahead, and she heard him mutter to himself.

"Stealing from a little girl? What a couple of pricks..." He said to himself. The others heard him though and Holly heard Marina say quietly, "Takes one to know one." Had the situation been a little less dire, she probably would have tripped from how hard she wanted to laugh. Instead she snickered with the rest of her Pokemon, and sped forward alongside Cheren, deeper and deeper into the trees where the unknown awaited them. Holly pulled the the furry scruff of her new jacket closer to her neck, and followed Cheren deeper into Route 3.

* * *

 **A.N: Went through and cleaned up some of the previous chapters. I really should get someone to double check this stuff though, because sometimes I'm as blind as a Woobat. So I apologize for any grammar issues.**


	7. Chapter 7: Welcome To Nacrene

**Chapter Seven: Welcome To Nacrene**

 _"An open mind leaves a chance for someone to drop a worthwhile thought in it."_ \- Mark Twain

* * *

"Well maybe they went down the path there, we did give them just enough time to run off while we were trying to stop the girl from crying after all."

"Doubt it. It's more likely they went into the cave opening, they may be quick but I doubt you can carry a Pokemon and run in those heavy uniforms for too long."

"Why would they steal a Pokemon just to trap themselves in a cave? It's idiotic."

"I said they were quick, not clever."

Holly groaned and threw her hands up in the air. She hated arguing with Cheren, which was always, and she hated when he made valid points, which was always. Holly thought it seemed far more likely the crooks would have continued through the forest down a pathway headed away from the cave, whilst Cheren thought otherwise. Knowing they were wasting time sitting and bickering, she decided to go with a fool proof plan and ask her Pokemon for help.

"Louis," Holly asked over her shoulder. "Do you smell them down that pathway?" It's what she would've done, if she had been in their situation. The small but gruff Pokemon tasted the air for a few seconds before pointing at the cave with a paw.

"Assuming you mean the thieves, I'm getting a strong whiff of them coming from that opening in the cliff side." He declared. Holly let out a slight groan and leaned against the tree log they were all hiding behind. She hated when Cheren was right, which was always.

"He says they went into the cave." Holly grumbled to Cheren. He nodded briskly before doing a double and casting Holly a strange look.

"Sorry, _he says_?" He asked her. Holly nodded, mirroring the same look of disbelief that Cheren was giving her. Was he deaf? He didn't say anything else, but climbed over the log grumbling about the ravings of insane people he had to deal with. Holly ignored him and motioned for her Pokemon to follow her as they snuck up to the mouth of the cave, with Blitzle stepping up beside Holly.

"Holly, I don't mean to intrude, but can we trust him? You two clearly don't have the best history, not to mention he threatened turning you in if he beat us." She noted. Holly wasn't entirely sure if she trusted him, actually she didn't trust him any more then she did a Hypno offering candy from a van, but she was starting to have a bit of faith in her own capabilities as a trainer. Kind of.

"Not really, but I'm not sure if I could live with myself if I didn't try to help that poor girl back there. Watching her cry like that just broke my heart." Holly admitted. Blitzle seemed pleased with this answer, as did Louis, who Holly noticed was listening beside Blitzle. She felt a sudden pull as Marina began clambering up her back and into her beanie, and felt a small warmth swell inside her. She was going to miss stuff like this whenever Marina evolved. _If she makes it to her evolution_ , a nasty voice in the back of her head whispered.

"If you're done whispering to your Pokemon, I think I can hear something, or more likely someone, inside the cave." Cheren hissed to them and nodded his head to the entrance next to him. Holly nodded in apology, anything to stop arguing with voices in her head. She'd had enough of that when she was sick. Holly edged up along the opposite side of the cave's opening and peered her head over to peek at what lay inside. Barely visible in the darkness were two figures hunched over something, their heads turning back and forth to each other quickly as though they were bickering about something. Cheren peered over as well, and turned back to face Holly.

"Two of them. See? I told you they were here." Cheren whispered. Holly rolled her eyes and did her best to ignore the obvious gloating spewing from his mouth and instead asked what she considered a more important question.

"Now what?" She hoped he had a plan, because Arceus knew she didn't.

"We corner them." He told her slyly, motioning for her to follow and grabbing two pokeballs from his belt. Holly watched as he creeped inside, slowly sneaking in after him with her Pokemon until they were close enough to hear the arguing pair, who were far too preoccupied with whatever they were hunched over focus on anything else.

"Oh nice one, genius, yuh went and killed de damn ting." The one on the left said. The one on the right was scratching the back of his head and running a hand over his eyes, cursing.

"Arceus, I was just trying to run, Jayden, I didn't mean to shut of its circulation!" The right one whispered defensively. Holly thought his voice sounded eerily familiar, but had to wait until he spoke up so she could be sure. The one on the left clicked his tongue.

"Oooh, justcha wait until Lucy gets a hold of dis. Ya' dig? You're screwed Connawhs." Holly instantly recognized the voice, the one without the accent that is, at the sound of his name. Connors, the male part of the duo that had ended up killing Creevy. And if memory severed her correctly, it was more than likely his Patrat that did it. Holly was about to make the first move, but Cheren struck first, hurling his pokeball right at the hunched over figure. With a dull clunk it hit right against the back of the not-Connors figure's head, causing to him to flail slightly before falling over and clutching the back of his cranium.

Connors shot up like a rocket, reaching into his cloak and releasing his Patrat almost instantly.

"You take blondie, I'll deal with this one!" Cheren ordered. His Snivy had released upon impact against the man's head, and was currently rearing up against his Lillipup. Holly, feeling she didn't have much of a choice, nodded and pointed at the Patrat in front of them that was still swelling with anger.

"Guys... that's the same Patrat that killed Creevy. Let's show him how we feel about that, sound good?" She asked. She wanted to sound angry, and she was, but her voice still quivered as she spoke and knew deep down she really didn't want to fight and risk her Pokemon's lives again. She would have much rather just turned tail and fled out the cave, but aside from the fact that she had promised to get a little girl's Pokemon back, she also really wanted to the beat the crap out of that Patrat and its trainer.

Apparently, her tiny attempt at a motivational speech worked to some degree, because she felt her beanie quiver and nearly fall off as Marina hopped off of Holly's head and went straight for the Patrat. Holly watched, slightly hopeful as she ordered Marina to use Water Gun. A harsh spray of water shot against the Patrat's face, but he remained still and stoic, glaring at Holly and her Pokemon. Holly had no intention of giving him an opening, and ordered Marina to spray him again, as hard as she could. Only after the water had stopped did Holly realize her mistake. She saw the Patrat rear back like it was about to headbutt Marina, but instead it rammed itself into her at lighting speed.

The scene seemed to play out in slow motion; a Patrat slamming into her Pokemon and sending them flying backwards. The Pokemon looking shocked as they were thrown backwards with incredible force and as they watched their own drops of blood fly out of their mouths. Holly could not scream, she could not move, all she could do was watch and wait for Creevy to hit the barrels that would be the eventual cause of death.

"NOT AGAIN!" A voice shouted out that echoed in the cave's vastness. Holly's eyes flickered to her left, where a large, glowing Pokemon had ran forward and leaped. It leaped up off the cave floor and collided with the flying figure, cushioning its blow as Marina was thrown against a large furry Pokemon that Holly did not recognize. The Pokemon slid against the floor and almost tumbled, but it kept its posture even as it shot behind her. When Holly realized that she could still move, and breathe, and think, she shouted the first words that came to her mind.

"Marina!" Holly screeched. Time was speeding back up. Her hand was outstretched towards her Pokemon. Her feet were pushing off of the cave ground, towards the heap of fluff where Marina lay. And then she was there, but it was no longer a pile of fluff that saved Marina, instead she realized with a jolt that it was Louis, who must have evolved into a Herdier without her even realizing it. He stood back up gently, hardly wincing from the dive he took and instead checking on Marina. Holly felt her heart skip a beat as she realized Marina was still breathing.

"Oh please don't tell me I killed another one. Arceus above, if that thing is dead my career is over. I'm a scientist for Mew's sake, not a field agent!" Connors seemed to be talking to himself rather than anyone else, his face covered in sweat as he took a few steps back. With a hardy growl, Louis shot off from where he had landed and ran straight for the Patrat. The Pokemon seemed to realize it was in danger and tried to retreat back to his trainer, but Louis made it there first, sinking his teeth right in its stubby little shoulder and spraying little bits of blood on and around him. It fell over, dead.

"You stupid bastard, you stupid bastard!" Connors yelled, reaching up and touching his nose. Clearly he hadn't forgotten Louis from their first encounter. "Why can't you open your eyes and realize your own complicity-" He didn't even manage to finish his sentence before a wave of electricity shimmered through the air and paralyzed him, sending him crumbling to the ground.

"Nice Thunder Wave, Blitzle." Holly said. She felt something heavy shift in her bag, but it didn't seem important at the moment. Blitzle acknowledged her with a nod, and they turned just in time to see Cheren beat the living snot out of the other Plasma member, Jayden, who was currently walking backwards with his hands raised in defeat.

"Right, okay, yuh guys win. Yuh got me so fahr? No denyin' it. Tell yuh what, I'm just gonna back up safely and not do anythin'- GET THEM, BOYS!" He stopped and suddenly dived behind a large boulder in the middle of a cave, leaving Holly and Cheren to turn and see that reinforcements had arrived. Two more members of Plasma arrived, and as soon as they entered the cave tossed two more Patrats out onto the field.

"Damn, that's what the were doing in the cave, calling backup!" Cheren burst out. Holly no longer cared about the when or the why, so long as she got her and her own out of there alive. That was all that mattered at this point. The two new members looked at there comrades, one paralyzed next to his own dead Pokemon, and another peeking out from behind a large rock.

"Holy hell, you guys could not have screwed this up any more could you?" One asked.

"Just wait until Lucy hears about this Connors. And uh, Jayden, right?" The other one asked.

Jayden peeked out from behind his rock and nodded. "Yeah, that's me."

"Yeah you're probably both getting fired." The first one said shaking his head. "I mean, they're just kids for Mew's sake. How the hell did you _both_ lose?!"

"Kinda like how yuh both just did?" Jayden asked. The two new members raised their eyebrows and turned back to look at the battle. Holly and Cheren were staring at the both of them, with Baron and Louis standing over the unconscious figures of the Patrats. The two new members' mouths gaped and they looked at each other before groaning and putting their hands up, grumbling to each other about selfish trainers. Holly was carrying Marina in her arms, while Blitzle carried the girl's Pokemon, a Purrloin, on her back and out of the cave.

As soon as Holly and Cheren were out of the cave, Cheren took the girl's Purrloin in his arms and put a hand on its chest to see if it was still alive. Holly and her own Pokemon waited with bated breath.

"Still alive." He muttered. He positioned the frail looking Pokemon over his shoulder and turned to go back down the pathway to where Bianca and the girl were waiting for them. Holly made to follow him, but he stopped her.

"I won't be blinded by my own pride as to think I could have made it out of there on my own." He said shortly. "So, let me repay you myself. Take that path there on the right, and keep going until you reach the lake. Nacrene City is just on the other side, stay out of the dark grass and you'll be fine."

Holly looked at Cheren. She wasn't sure how to feel about him still. He was incredibly intelligent and perceptive, that couldn't be denied, so why was he so distant and cold towards her? She had never wronged him as far as she was concerned, and if anything had tried to be nice to him on several occasions. She figured that politeness wouldn't go amiss, and nodded towards him.

"Thank you, Cheren." She said softly. He grunted and started walking down the pathway on the left away from her.

"Whatever, just stay away from me and Bianca. Try not to get arrested. Or do. I don't really care." He paused and reached into his own bag, tossing out a few pink spherical objects at Holly and her Pokemon.

"Also, get your Pokemon in some balls for Mew's sake." He didn't turn to look at her as he wandered off down Route 3. Holly looked down at the objects, which she now recognized to be Heal Balls, weird off-brand pokeballs that were covered in a high amount of punch colored paint with golden lines along the front of it. Holly thought they looked repulsive, but not one to look a gift Rapidash in the mouth, pocketed the balls.

A soft bout of coughing erupted from Holly's arms, followed by a familiar voice that mumbled, "Prick."

"Marina!" Holly squeezed the little Oshawott so tight that for a second, she worried she might have strangled her. Marina coughed a bit, and hugged Holly as tight as her little arms would let her. Holly felt tears trailing down her face and only squeezed Marina harder. She didn't think she could live with herself if she had let Marina die, like she had let Creevy. She made a solemn promise to herself, and to the voice in her head. She wasn't sure if she considered it her code, or whatever, but it seemed important to her.

 _Nobody gets left behind, and nobody dies alone._

She told this to the others later once they set up camp against a pine tree later on down Route 3. They didn't have any way to make a fire, so they simply huddled up around each other. Holly worried they might thought her silly or over-dramatic, but was mildly surprised when they seemed to take it.

"I think that's a wonderful philosophy, Holly dear." Blitzle told her. Holly felt her face go red as the others started chiming in.

"Rightly so, it doesn't hurt to have such a strong ideal like that. You know, as far as trainers go Miss, you're pretty alright." Louis admitted to the group.

"Louis, you don't have to call me 'Miss' you know. Holly works just fine." Holly said with a laugh. She had been meaning to tell him that for a while now, but now that she thought about it, she kind of liked it. It fit in well with his gruff but kind nature. Louis shrugged as he usually did and said he'd think about it.

"Back on the topic of trainers, I've gotta agree with Pops. Especially compared to Chair-in or whatever his name is." Violet added.

"I agree wholeheartedly, Violet. What's your story with him, Holly? In fact, what's your story all together?" Blitzle asked. Violet turned to Holly, as did the others except for Louis.

"Wait a minute, _Pops_?" He asked incredulously, but nobody was paying him any attention. Everyone had their eyes on Holly, even Marina and eventually Louis who had heard this story before. With anyone else, she probably wouldn't have the guts to go through everything she had been through so far. However, she felt that her Pokemon deserved to hear the story of how they got to this point of being on the run. So Holly shifted into a more comfortable position with her back against the tree and began.

"Well, it all started when I was about seven. Was I seven? I might have been eight, actually... anyway, my mom and dad were having some problems. I don't know what caused it, my mom refused to talk about it, but I remember they both started looking overtired, they had these deep bags under their eyes..." And so Holly started recounting memories that she herself hadn't thought about in several years, trying to skip the finer details and get to the more important elements. She talked about how she, Cheren, and Bianca had been the best of friends when she was younger, how her mother started taking different pills to cope with being kicked out of the house. She started to tear up when she recounted her mother's death, and felt her Pokemon squeeze closer to her.

She let Marina recount how she had busted his nose when her stepmother had slapped her and-

"Wait, Marina, Susan didn't slap me, my father did." Holly interrupted. Marina looked curiously at Holly before shaking her head, reinstating that it was the step-mother who had struck her.

"He was carrying me, Holly, how could he have hit you?" Marina asked. Holly didn't have an answer, and simply let Marina continue on with the story for the time being. She distinctly remembered her father hitting her, but then again things had happened so fast and so unexpectedly, that maybe she was mistaken. This was why she hated when things got out of control, it was impossible to keep the facts straight. After Marina finished her part, Holly picked up at the point where she bumped into Bianca, literally, and continued on from there. She recounted the stranger who had paid for her trainer's identification card, and being bitten by Louis on Route Two.

"Oh you make me sound like the bad guy, Mis- I mean, Holly. I'll have you know," He turned to face Violet and Blitzle, both of whom were trying their best not to giggle. "She was the one who stepped on my tail first, me biting her was a reaction, a reaction I tell you!" Holly joined in with the laughing, granted nothing they were saying was exactly hysterical, but a bit of lightheartedness went a long way when you were on the run.

Holly started up the story again, this time recounting about trudging through Route 2 in the middle of freezing rain, seeing Bianca only to be thrown out by Cheren, and meeting Creevy in the Dreamyard. Her voice trailed off at the mention of her deceased Pokemon, but rose back up when she mentioned meeting Ellie. She told them about how she was the first person aside from Bianca and the man who bought her ID to show her actual kindness.

"Oh, she sounds like such a cutie!" Blitzle exclaimed after Holly was done describing her. Holly nodded in agreement, not realizing what she was doing until it was far too late and the others were laughing their heads off, much to her embarrassment. She quickly changed the subject to how she had seen the news report, beat her first Gym, and went back to the Dreamyard where Bianca showed up again.

"You know, I really liked that place." Marina interrupted suddenly. Everyone turned to her and she fiddled with her bandana in embarrassment. "Sorry," Marina apologized. "It's just... I felt comfortable there. It was almost like there was someone watching over us."

"No, you're right. I felt that too." Holly said, and Louis nodded in agreement.

"The Dreamyard, in Striaton City?" Blitzle asked. The others nodded and her eyes widened in surprise. "I always used to hear stories from Casey and Gabriella about how there was supposedly a mysterious entity that was drawn to the Dreamyard's eerie vibe. I never thought they might have some truth in them." The others all nodded in wonder and with a reminder from Violet, Holly wrapped up the rest of her story with burying Creevy thanks to the man with the shovel, and running off with Violet before the cops could catch them.

"So you've just been living on your own, with your family practically abandoning you?" Blitzle asked in disbelief. Holly nodded and Blitzle gave her one of the most soothing looks she had ever seen, smiling softly at her. "Well, not really on your own. You've had your Pokemon, haven't you?" She asked. Holly hadn't taken the time to think about it, but she really hadn't been alone. All through the chaos and running, her Pokemon had stuck by her side without even considering leaving for their own benefit. Holly suddenly felt a surge of warmth for her Pokemon.

"I guess so." Holly replied as she looked around at everyone. "In fact, we're more or less like our own little dysfunctional family." She joked. The others laughed, but Marina gasped and flapped her stubby little paws around like an overweight Vullaby trying to fly. Everyone looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"Oh Mew, she's having a stroke." Violet suddenly said, but it turned out that Marina simply had an epiphany as she told the others her idea.

"Holly's right, we are like a family! Louis is like the dad, all rough and grumpy but he cares about us deep down! Oh, and me and Violet are like siblings since we're younger and we get along sorta, and Holly is like our big sister! Blitzle is kinda like our Mom, cause she's sweet and likes to take care of us!" Marina said at a rapid pace while pointing to each of the group and their role. "She fed me those berries when I got hurt in the cave after all!"

"Berries?" Holly asked, looking at Blitzle. She pointed with her stubby white tail towards the wa they had came, back towards the cave and said, "I picked up a few Oran Berries back there, before we went into the cave because I figured they would be useful. I suppose I was right." She turned back to Holly and smiled, and Holly had to admit Marina had a point. Blitzle did have a motherly aspect about her.

"This is all fine and dandy, but why exactly am I considered the father of the group? I don't exactly enjoy looking after you scraps." Louis grumbled.

Violet grinned at the Herdier. "But you do it anyway, right?" Louis said nothing, and Blitzle spoke up.

"Well, I think it's a great idea to think of ourselves as a family. You all are more than welcome to call me 'Mom' if you'd like, I don't mind a bit." She announced.

Holly piped up something that had been on her mind for a while now, motioning towards Blitzle. "Actually, I had a question to ask. I was wondering, since it seems you were never given a personal name, if maybe you'd like one?" Blitzle looked at Holly curiously and tipped her head sideways.

"Did you have one in mind?" She asked. Holly nodded.

"Yon-Yon. I used to call my mom that, as a nickname since her first name was Yvonne." Holly explained. Blitzle smiled warmly and closed her eyes.

"In that case, from now on just call me Yon-Yon." She told Holly and the others. Everyone seemed fine with this new family-like grouping, and Holly decided that a bit of food would finish the night on a high note before tucking in. She reached into her satchel to grab the cans and dried fruit when she felt something in her bag that she didn't remember being in there. Something small, round, and hard like a rock. And it was moving.

Holly yelped and pulled her hand back as a small little cobalt colored rock with a gaping crater in the middle of it tumbled out, along with her Heal Balls. There was a stick like piece of rock hanging from the top of it, and two smaller rocks on the bottom that acted like feet of some sort as it stumbled out of the bag. It looked -at least Holly thought it was looking- around at them all, and they all looked at it. Nobody spoke until Violet poked it gently with the tip of his tail.

"I think it's a Roggenrola." He stated, and turning to Holly he asked, "What's it doing in your bag? You don't think it's trying to purloin anything, do you?" Holly shrugged, but she heard Marina snort from nearby.

"Isn't that _your_ job, you know, as a Purrloin? To purloin?" She giggled at Violet's glare but stopped soon after, frowning and saying, "Laughing hurts." Yon-Yon recommended she get as much rest as could if she wanted to heal properly, and then turned to the Roggenrola.

"Well now, what exactly do we do about this little one?" She asked them all. Nobody had an answer.

"Maybe it was in the cave and jumped into Holly's satchel when all the fighting started. Makes the most sense to me." Louis grunted. The Roggenrola was turning and looking at everyone as they spoke and went to take a step forward, only to stumble backwards and fall against one of the Heal Balls. There was a flash of blue light, followed by a few shakes of the ball, and then it was still. Nobody moved or made a single sound, they simply stared at the ball until Violet asked, "Does... does that even count?"

Everyone burst out in hysterics, with Marina switching between fits of laughter and winces of pain while the others tried their best not to completely lose themselves. While in retrospect it wouldn't be nearly as funny, the event was just a moment that one had to be there to truly appreciate it. They ate their fill of canned food and finally settled in for the night, and Holly thought to herself as she gazed up at the stars while the sounds of her new family's breathing gently lulled her into slumber. She thought that this seemed like a promising new start for her, and so long as her luck held up, she figured she'd do just fine. She thought that facing off against the other Gym Leaders seemed feasible with her new friends by her side, she thought that even Cheren with his weird two-faced actions towards her couldn't ruin the feeling she had. The feeling of being a part of a happy family.

When the morning arrived, they gathered their things and set off down Route 3 yet again. Unfortunately, the path to Nacrene City wasn't uneventful. Several trainers were also on the Route, and they all seemed eager for a good battle. Holly wasn't entirely sure if she could give it to them.

"What if they recognize me from the news?" Holly whispered anxiously to the others.

"We run." Louis said simply.

"But what if they chase after us?" Holly was hoping for a more sound answer.

"We run faster."

But much to their luck, they never had to run. For whatever reason none of the trainers seemed to recognize her, they were all far too preoccupied with getting a good battle to focus on anything else.

"I'm far too preoccupied with getting a good battle to focus on anything else!" Cried a young boy who had apparently graduated from the Trainer's School. He too had a Blitzle, a fierce looking one at that, and Holly felt this the perfect time to test out Blitzle's skill. By setting her up against one of her own species, she'd be able to compare how well she fared in comparison to others.

Instead however, the Roggenrola she had accidentally caught sprang from her bag and ran at top speed towards the opposing Blitzle. Holly's brain faltered as she tried to comprehend what had happened, and began to panic as soon as she looked up and fully understood. That poor Pokemon was no match for something that strong! She wanted to close her eyes or look away, but some sick twisted part of her brain forced her to watch as the Pokemon was absolutely pummeled into the ground. Even her own Pokemon were speechless as the dust settled and they all looked on at the outcome.

The Roggenrola was standing ceremoniously on top of the beaten and bruised Blitzle, looking around at Holly and her companions. It turned to look at the other trainer, hopped, and then scuttled back to Holly's bag. Nobody spoke for a second until the boy returned his Blitzle to his ball and walked off grumbling. Holly and the other's looked at each other, and then at the bag where the little Roggenrola dwelt. Holly stuck her hand into the bag gingerly, and scooped up the little Pokemon, which was no bigger than her fist.

"Powerful little thing, isn't she?" Louis laughed.

Violet's ears twitched. "How can you tell if it's a girl?" He asked.

"Don't ask questions you don't want the answer to." Louis replied. The others chuckled and started walking down Route 3 again. Holly inspected the Pokemon as hard as she could, but nowhere could she find any sort of mouth, or eyes for that matter, unless the giant orifice in the middle of it functioned as both. Maybe Louis knew?

"Louis, any ideas on what uh... this is?" She pointed towards at the hole and turned to Louis, who nodded.

"I believe that is its ear. From what I remember they have superb hearing capabilities that can detect disturbances that not even you humans can hear." He stated matter-of-fact like. Holly let out a soft grunt in understanding and turned back to the Roggenrola. It hopped around in her hand and pattered its little feet until it seemed to realize it couldn't get down and became still.

"Guess we should name her then. Any ideas?" Asked Holly as she stepped over a tree stump.

"Rockalina?" Violet suggested.

"Absolutely not." Holly replied.

"Bell."

"Ingot?"

"Claire!"

"Prick?"

"Marina!"

"Sorry."

None of the names really struck out to Holly as one that fit the energetic little ball of rock. A thought struck across Holly's mind from back when she lived with both of her mother and father, and she raised the little rock up eye level and looked at it curiously.

"Hmm, hop up and down if you like the name 'Mythril'." Holly told her. The Rock Type stood still for a minute before suddenly bouncing up and down and a maniac. Holly smiled and returned the the newly named Mythril to her bag, where she became quiet and still.

"Where'd you get a name like that Holly?" Marina asked. Holly turned to look back at her starter, where she was sitting on Yon-Yon's back. They had figured it'd be best if she took it easy while she recovered, and Yon-Yon had no complaint at all.

"Read it in a fantasy book when I was little. I always liked the word, always seemed so mysterious." Holly told her.

"Well, I'm not sure why you bothered asking us if you were just going to choose the first one you thought up." Louis teased. Holly shook her head and smiled, pushing aside a branch as they crossed further on into Route 3. A few trainers caught Holly's eye, and was reluctantly forced to fight through each of them. She found out that Yon-Yon was quick and nimble, and had powerful hind legs that were made contact with more than one of her opponents' faces. Yon-Yon however, admitted that she much preferred staying on the sidelines to fighting. Holly assured her she'd only use her if it was absolutely necessary, which Yon-Yon was fine with.

Louis had also made a massive improvement with evolving. While his speed was nothing special when compared to Yon-Yon or Violet's, nobody could deny he had as much bite as he did bark. Violet's speed, mixed with his claws, proved to be an excellent match with Marina's spry movements and quick shots of water, not that they got to practice too much. At last after battling several traveling trainers, they came to a spot Holly recognized. It was a long wooden bridge stuck right over a decently sized lake. Holly faintly remembered seeing it on the drive home from Nimbasa, though she wasn't sure why a bridge of all things stuck out to her.

"This is it guys, I think." She announced, laying down her satchel to rest for a spare minute. She leaned against a pine tree, and looked up at the sky. Clouds had sprung up during the night, and with the temperature drifting lower and lower any warmth from the sun would have been a blessing. Patches of blue were breaking through the overcast and while the sunlight still remained unseen, Holly thought that this was surely good omen.

The others all gladly took a seat for a quick break after battling for most of the afternoon. Yon-Yon turned to Holly and asked, "I think I see some berries across the street. You don't mind if I go pick some, do you?" Holly shook her head; the more supplies they had, the better. She watched Yon-Yon cross the street, and then Louis follow after saying that he'd probably be able to help collect some. Holly stuck her tongue out at him, and left her bag with Violet and Marina, deciding a splash of water might do her good. She skidded down the the lakeside edge and peered into the water, wondering just how filthy it was inside. Of course, if Water Types could survive in it, it was probably safe. Then again, it was Unova.

Figuring she'd probably live, she cupped the water and splashed it against her face and immediately regretted it. The water was freezing cold and sent a shiver through Holly's entire body, and she quickly wiped her face off with her sleeve.

 _So much for having a wash_ , she grumbled to herself. She straightened her beanie and made to climb back up to the roadside, but something pushed her back down to the lake's edge and landed right on top of her.

"What the-" She began, but a furry paw covered her mouth, preventing her from any further complaints. Violet was sitting on top of her and staring over his shoulder in concentration, and as Holly stopped fidgeting she realized that there were voices getting slowly closer. Violet hopped off of her and pointed to the bridge with his tail.

"Under the bridge, now!" He ordered. Holly scrambled over to the short strip of grass just under the beginning of the bridge, nearly cursing as she scraped her hand against a thorn bush. Violet shushed her again and they waited in silence until the sound of footsteps reached their ears as someone walked over the bridge.

"No kidding, the higher ups were pissed." A voice said. "Four Plasma agents beaten by some teenager, and the only officer on the case hasn't come back with squat? Doesn't look too good on our end, does it?" The voice sighed, but continued walking and was soon out of hearing distance. Violet and Holly peeked out from under the bridge, and waited until the coast was clear. They scrambled back up to the road where Marina was waiting for them by the tree looking worriedly in the stranger's direction.

"We got lucky, Mythril heard him long before we saw him." Violet said, nudging the satchel with a paw. "Granted, we didn't know exactly what she was freaking out about, but at least we had a fair warning."

"Who was he?" Holly asked nervously as she climb back up.

"Officer. I hate to say it Holly, but I'd bet my bandana that he was talking about you." Marina admitted. Holly groaned and took off her beanie just to run her hands through her hair. They couldn't avoid every person they met, sure, but they definitely couldn't catch the sight of an officer who would more than likely recognize Holly.

"Don't they have any other crimes to worry about? I can't be the most dangerous person walking around Unova." Holly complained in a hushed voice. "Plasma killed my Pokemon, but no they're just a peachy organization trying to save Pokemon, aren't they?"

"Well, they didn't specify it was you. Just, 'some teenager', so maybe they don't know it was you for sure?" Violet said. Holly sighed and kicked a stone in annoyance. She really hated living like this. A sudden yell split the air, and the three of them turned to see Yon-Yon and Louis facing towards another stranger on the bridge.

Louis' hackles were raised and was baring his teeth at the stranger who Holly realized must have been a trainer. He was wearing a blue hoodie that was the same shade of blue as Cheren's jacket, and was holding a pokeball in his hand, staring daggers into Louis and Yon-Yon. Both of them were breathing heavily. Holly knew something wasn't right here and instantly sprinted out into the road, skidding to a halt on the other side with Violet and Marina right behind her.

"What are you doing?!" She yelled at the trainer, waving her arms. His gaze flickered towards her and he raised his eyebrows, taking a step back as she purposely positioned herself in front of her Pokemon. The trainer scowled at her and pointed at Louis.

"I'm guessing this is your Pokemon? It just blocked my ball from capturing that Blitzle, and I'd really appreciate it if you could get it to move." He crossed his arms and tapped his feet impatiently, keeping his eyes on the Electric Type. Holly shook her head and jabbed her thumb behind her at Yon-Yon.

"No way, that's my Pokemon too!" She told him. He raised his eyebrows in mock surprise and held up small red device in his hands, shaking it in her face. Holly wanted to smack it into the lake beside them.

"Really? Because my Pokedex says that this Pokemon, a Blitzle, is not currently attached to pokeball officially!" He shouted. He took off his hat, a common red and white front cap, and slapped it against the side of his head in what Holly supposed must have been aggravation. Holly didn't care if he got mad, he wasn't taking her Pokemon.

"I don't care what your stupid device says, that's my Pokemon!"

"You can't just claim Pokemon, if it's not in a ball it's fair game you idiot!" He tried to throw the ball around her but Holly smacked his hand away, only to be shoved backwards and tripping over Louis. She heard her Pokemon cry out in alarm, and knew they were probably two seconds away from ripping the trainer's throat out, which Holly thought seemed like a fair idea. She had to resist the urge to knock his lights out unfortunately, because the officer who walked across the bridge was coming back, and was coming straight for her.

"Hey, HEY!" The officer ran over to them and pulled out a pokeball, calling out a Growlithe to his side. Holly tried to scramble away from the area, but the officer caught her by her collar and pulled her back before she could flee. He looked between the two trainers and asked, "Well? What's going on here?"

"It's nothing serious, officer, I was just trying to catch this wild Pokemon, but she kept stopping me and things got a little handsy. Just a little trainer scuffle." The other trainer admitted. Holly was just thankful he didn't sell her out as something worse. The officer nodded, patting his Growlithe who was growling at Louis. Louis returned the growl.

"Easy, Growlithe. Alright, if you two could show me your trainer's licenses, I'll let you guys off with just a warning." He said. The other trainer nodded and put his cap back on, slipping out his license from his wallet and handing it to the officer, who then swiped it using some sort of scanner. Holly on the other hand, froze. What was she supposed to do?

 _He's going to let us off with a warning._

If it was just a warning, then surely he hadn't recognized her? But if he scanned her license, he'd almost definitely know who she was. If she didn't give it to him though, he'd arrest her for training without a license. She felt the stares of everyone, including her Pokemon, as she pulled out her I.D card from her pocket, and slowly handed it over to the officer. She could feel sweat pouring down her face and figured if her perturbed expression didn't give herself away, her shaking hands would. The officer took the card and swiped it, and Holly hoped her Pokemon understood that they might have to make a break at any sudden moment.

The scanner blinked and the officer lazily swiped through whatever information had popped up, smacking his lips and scratching the back of his head through the curls of golden hair. His Growlithe barked at Louis, causing everyone to jump in surprise at the unexpected noise. The officer frowned and kicked his Growlithe gently with the side of his foot.

"I said to knock it off, dude." He lectured. He rolled his eyes and pocketed the scanner, handing Holly back her I.D without a complaint. Holly eyed both the card and the officer in bewilderment, not entirely sure what to say. He honestly didn't recognize her? Surely some sort of info must've popped up on the scanner, something classifying her as a wanted individual. Perhaps he had skipped through it while he was skimming to see if she was validated or not, or maybe he just hadn't been notified of her. Holly didn't know the inner workings of the police force, but as long as she wasn't about to get hauled off to the slammer, she didn't care.

"Alright, lemme see... uh, don't fight over Pokemon. If it's not in, like, an official ball registered by the Silph Co. then it's considered wild. So yeah, please, don't make me hear you guys got arrested over something that small." He said. Holly had to admit, though it might've been because the fear of being recognized was draining away, this was one of the least intimidating cops she had ever met.

"Right, sure thing officer. It won't happen again." The trainer promised. The officer seemed relieved to not have had to do anything too hard, tipped his hat to the both of them, and went on his merry way. Both trainers waited until the officer had long passed before moving, each of them letting out a sigh of relief. The other trainer brushed his hair out of his eyes and set his hat straight before turning to Holly and apologizing.

"Sorry. Guess I've had a bit of a bad day, shouldn't have taken it out on you." He shrugged sheepishly. Now that Holly got a better look at him, she saw he had chocolate colored eyes that were half lidded from what Holly guessed was lack of sleep, and shaggy brown hair that swept out from under his hat. He stuck out his hand, saying, "My name is Hilbert."

Holly didn't accept his hand, instead crossing her arms and scowling at him. This jerk had tried to steal Yon-Yon and could've gotten her arrested, she wasn't exactly keen on being buddies with him. He seemed to realize this and raised his hands in a sort of surrender.

"Right, I get it. I'll uh, just let you be on your way then. Again, sorry." Holly nodded and motioned for her Pokemon to follow her as she walked past Hilbert. The only thing that disrupted the silence was Violet, who had started giggling.

"What's so funny?" Holly asked. She had been an inch away from getting arrested, and couldn't see anything remotely funny about the matter.

"Your face! You were staring that Hilbert guy down like a mother who found her son stealing from the cookie jar!" He told her. Her other Pokemon started snickering, even Louis who until now had seemed ready to fight tooth and nail. Holly frowned and shook her head.

"No I wasn't! I mean- he tried to steal Yon-Yon!" She felt her defenses crumbling to dust as everyone began laughing around her.

"For a shy and timid girl, I'd bet my paws you could go hand to hand with a Garchomp if it accidentally stepped on one of our tails." Violet teased.

Louis chuckled, "Watch it scrap, if anyone's going to be stepping on tails, it'll probably be Holly." Everyone burst out into fits of laughter at this, and Holly threw her hands into the air in defeat, grateful when Marina finally crawled up in her beanie. The gateway to Nacrene City was just up ahead, and Holly was more than ready to get off Route 3.

"Hey Marina, how are you holding up?" Holly asked. Yon-Yon had done a decent job in fixing her up, but she still worried about the little Pokemon.

"I'm alright, it hurts when I breathe too hard, but other than that I'm A-Ok!" She flashed a smile that Holly returned and asked, "What about you, are you doing alright?" Holly had to think about it for a second, she was after all on the run from local police, was likely on the hit list of a powerful organization adored by the entire region, and was dealing with strangely suggestive dreams and her own psyche.

"Still breathing." She replied. The two swapped smiles again as a large shadow soon fell over them, causing everyone to stop and look. Before them was a large blue gate, leading into what was almost like a tunnel, that had momentarily blocked out the late afternoon sun with a line of trees forming a sort of wall beside the gate. They had arrived at Nacrene City.

A faint breeze rolled through the group, along with this came a sense of unease at what might lay beyond the tunnel. Holly felt her hands go cold, thinking of the mystery that seemed to radiate off of the city. True, it could just be another simple cluster of buildings like Striaton or Accumula, but there was always that eerie feeling that the unknown gave off, a possibility of possibilities. Holly always liked this feeling, and could tell she shared it with her Pokemon by the way they all stared silently at the gate.

"Well, shall we then?" Yon-Yon suggested. Everyone in the group nodded, and without another word marched through off of the bridge, through the soft grass that had begun to grow, and forward into the unknown. They passed several other people on their short walk through the gate, a napping security guard, a hiker, and even a Plasma member who was talking to some children. None of them paid Holly and her party any mind though, too preoccupied with their own doings, and soon Holly found herself stepping into sunlight once again as they exited through the gate and were welcomed into Nacrene.

The group was greeted with the sounds of bug Pokemon buzzing off from the trees in the distance, and the warm glow of the setting sun beaming its glow onto them. Other sounds seemed to echo off in the distance; a workman's saw slicing through wood, a musician playing a mellow tune with a Pokemon, the soft chatter of people relaxing over coffee after a long day of work. Holly and the others couldn't help but smile at the easygoing feeling Nacrene gave off, and a desire to go off and explore the city's many offers seemed to positively swell through each of them.

"Oh, I like this place!" Said Marina. Holly had to agree, the town gave off a nice rustic feel that reminded her faintly of a town from some fairy tale she had heard as a child. Holly could feel a cool breeze shift by as she and her companions walked through a long row of warehouses that had seemingly been transformed into shops of different sorts. Holly enjoyed the feeling of her shoes clacking against the flagstones that were used as a walkway throughout the town, though Marina stayed in Holly's beanie, saying the hard stones would "probably hurt her already aching paws".

The Pokemon Center was located in the middle of the city in between two warehouses that were advertised as restaurants. Holly and the others eventually managed to find it after asking several people for directions, and soon found themselves separated as the nurse took her Pokemon into the back room. Holly, with nothing else to do, sat in a booth near the back and kicked her feet together while she waited. This Cetner Holly noticed had far more People than Striaton's near empty one, which at the time was occupied by only herself and the temporary nurse, Ellie.

"Hey, what's your name?" Holly's heart nearly jumped out of her chest as a voice unexpectedly spoke from behind her, her hand reaching up to her chest as her breath became rapid. After a second of trying to return her breathing to normal she turned to see who it was that had scared her in the first place. In the booth behind her sat three trainers, the one who was speaking to her was sitting with his arms crossed over the back of the booth. All Holly could see of him was his slick brown hair that was combed over and his face, which seemed to be extremely oily and covered in pockmarks. Holly wished for nothing more than to sink into her seat until she vanished into the soft cushions below her, but she didn't. Instead she forced herself to finally mumble out her name, which came out as a soft whisper.

"Molly? Cool, I'm Dav. You battle?" Holly didn't have it in her to correct him. She had hoped a nod would be enough of a conversation for him, but apparently not as all he did was ask her mundane or personal questions that she would either shake her head or just shrug at. She figured he'd have to get bored eventually, but the odds simply weren't in her favor today as he eventually slid over to the seat next her, continuing to engage in annoyingly obtrusive way.

"So are you single?" He asked nonchalantly. If Holly had been drinking something, she would have spat it out from how unexpected the question was, and likely would have spat it in his face. "Cause you're way too hot to be single, just saying." He laid back in the seat and brushed his hand through his hair, nodding his head to a beat only he could hear. Holly prayed to whatever Legendary might be watching over her that the nurses would just hurry up so she could leave already and go back to the outside world, where it was much warmer and she wasn't anywhere near Dav. _If I wasn't such a runt I could probably do something about it,_ she realized glumly as he scooted closer to her.

"You know, if you need some pointers, I could give you some lessons on battling." He whispered right as Holly felt a hand slide onto her thigh. A nervous shiver ran through her and she wanted to scream at the absolute top of her lungs, but something stopped her. She knew this guy could easily pin her against the wall, she had little to no muscle and weighed probably a third less than him. This wasn't even taking into play his two friends who were nearby, both of whom were probably strong enough to toss her out the window.

His hand was sliding further and further along her leg, and she hadn't done anything yet. But what could she do? Fear seeped through her and the worse case scenario played out in her mind, tears began to slowly drop down her face.

"Can I help you?" A voice rang out through the Pokemon Center like a gunshot, and all chatter came to a halt as the attention in the room shifted towards Holly's direction. Dav looked in both surprise and embarrassment at their interrupter. Clad in a blue hoodie with dusty brown hair sprouting out from beneath his hat, was Hilbert, giving Dav a glare worthy of a Dragonite. Holly felt her heart skip a beat as a a Pawniard suddenly hopped onto the table beside Hilbert and glared at Dav in just as an intimidating manner.

"What? Nah dude, I was just hanging out- I mean, do you know her?" Dav chuckled and looked around at the rest of Center, which was staring right at him. Hilbert took a few steps closer to where Dav was sitting and stared him dead in the eyes.

"As a matter of fact, I do." He leaned closer to where his face was mere inches away from Dav's and said quietly, "Now I suggest you keep your hands off of my sister, and any other girl for that matter, or my Pawniard here _will make sure you don't_." Right on cue, the Pawniard scraped his blades together nice and slowly, keeping eye contact with Dav who was now backing out of the booth as quick as a whip with his hands raised.

"Yeah, sure thing bro. Won't happen again, totally my bad." He nudged his friends and whispered to them hurriedly, until they all shuffled on out of the Center as quick as could be. Holly could have sworn she smelled a hint of urine as he passed by. Hilbert watched them all go, with his Pawniard muttering beside him on the table with his blades crossed.

"Filthy abominations attempting to force themselves on a young girl, such disrespect I've never seen in my life..." Holly heard him say. Once the rest of the Center returned to their own chattering and business, Hilbert sat down across from Holly and lifted his hat so that their eyes met. Holly didn't say anything, she didn't know what to say. She supposed a "Thanks" wouldn't hurt, but her insides felt like a Reuniclus and her mouth had gone dry. Luckily Hilbert spoke first.

"You okay?" He asked. For the second time that day, Holly had to think about it and came to the same conclusion she had earlier.

"Still breathing." She mumbled. Hilbert nodded and looked down at the table for a minute. Apparently he didn't know what to say either. He tapped his fingers against the table for a few seconds until finally Holly thought of something to say.

"Thank you, for that. I'm sorry for-" But Hilbert cut across her with a shake of his head.

"Stop. You don't have anything to apologize for." He told her. "If anything, I'm the one who needs to be apologizing. In fact that's why I came looking for you in the first place, you left this back at the bridge, across the road." He pulled a brown satchel from around his shoulder and passed it over to Holly, who's eyes widened in surprise. Her satchel! She had completely forgotten it back at the roadside, and didn't even realize she was missing it.

"That's my way of saying sorry for being an ass about the Blitzle." He explained simply. Holly nodded and stared that at her satchel, digging through it to make sure everything was in its place, nearly having a heart attack when Mythril jumped out of the bag and into her lap. She made gentle cooing sounds to soothe the rambunctious Roggenrola, desperately trying to think of a way to properly say her thanks to Hilbert. He had just saved her after all, and brought her bag back as well.

"Give me a second, gotta take my Pokemon up." He told her, returning his Bisharp back to its ball who have Holly a firm salute before being sucked away. Holly waited for him to leave the table before returning to her bag. Holly looked high and low for something, anything of value that she could repay him with, but something told her he'd probably refuse it anyway. Before she could decide on what to do, he had already returned and was across from her once again leaving another dreadfully awkward silence to fill the air yet again. Hilbert seemed determined to make up for earlier, as he slid a soda from his own bag to Holly. Holly couldn't help but notice that the bag was nothing but jam-packed with carbonated beverages.

"You sure?"

"Go for it, I've got plenty."

And so they drank their sodas, cherry flavored, to fill the void while they waited for their Pokemon. Holly spied a television above the front desk that was tuned to the news, and nervously turned to see if anything about her was being aired while Hilbert fiddled with his hat.

"...More rain incoming, Barbara, and we can expect scattered showers all throughout the lower right hand corner of Unova for the rest of the week." Announced the weatherman, a smug looking man in his early twenties with sleek golden hair. "Now, those rain clouds might seem tiny, but they've got a lot of rain piled up in there. Who knew big things could come in such small packages?" The anchor to the left of him, who Holly guessed was Barbara, gave a Pan Am smile to the camera and to her fellow anchor.

"Well, Michael, I'd have thought you'd know all about small packages. Today the Unovan League is currently deciding on whether to pass the bill that allows the Unovan based group, Team Plasma, to legally strip trainers of their Pokemon. Our correspondent Judy Possleton is on the scene right now, Judy tell us what's going on over there?" The screen switched to a rather miffed looking reporter that Holly recognized as the same one that had interviewed her father. Her hair was flapping around wildly in the harsh wind and she seemed to be struggling to keep her eyes open.

"Barbara, I'm standing in front of the Unova League right now," She moved out of the way so the camera could get a look at the sand-colored dome. "And I just spoke to Elite Four member Grimsley who I asked if we could get a special inside scoop on the matter. Unfortunately he threw a coin at my head and told me my chances were absolutely null." Holly snorted as she heard this, resulting in her soda coming out of her nose.

"What we do know however, is that while certain towns have been given the choice of allowing Plasma to revoke a trainers license if they have reason to suspect that trainer isn't providing proper care to their Pokemon, such as Striaton and Nacrene City, this bill will make it a requirement for cities to allow Plasma to investigate and tackle these situations." Judy announced. "We've also heard rumors that a full out ban on training Pokemon all together may be in the works, but as far as we know these are just speculations. Back to you, Barbara."

The camera flickered and returned back to Barbara and Michael who were staring at the camera with fake smiles, leaving Holly to wonder if they were being threatened with being fired if they stopped smiling.

"Thanks Judy, a tragic event transpired today when a local business owner reported that over forty carbonated beverages were stolen from his store. According to the owner, he left to go to the back room..." Barbara's voice trailed off as Holly drifted her focus away from the television screen, and she focused on something that had been nagging her for a while now.

There was no segment about the dangerous teenager lurking in the woods, no warning to look out for a crazed homeless girl, nothing. The police officer she had run into that afternoon hadn't widened his eyes and pointed at her in recognition, and not a single person had suddenly shouted, "Look, it's that psycho from the news!". Maybe she had blown things way out of proportion, assuming every officer in the region was searching high and low for her.

She wanted to laugh and smack herself upside the head at the same time. What had she been thinking? Her case was a small local incident that her father had cooked up, not something that would reach the ears of people three cities away. Chances are she was already forgotten about and replaced with stories about soda thieves, which she was perfectly fine with.

"McConall, Holly." A voice suddenly called. Holly looked up to see a nurse at the front desk with her Pokemon ready. She excused herself and went to collect her Pokemon, all of whom seemed happy and clean once again. Upon turning back to leave she veered over to where Hilbert was still waiting for his own Pokemon and tapped his shoulder.

"You didn't have to bail me out of that, but you did. I don't think I can thank you enough for that." She admitted to him quietly. Holly's Pokemon listened curiously, but Hilbert shrugged and brushed it off.

"It's no big deal. Guys like that need to be kicked around every now and again." He paused for a second and raised his hand. "Oh, sorry about calling you my sister, thought it'd be more menacing if they thought I was your overprotective older brother instead of some random dude." He told her. "It wasn't too hard to do considering that's pretty much my personality right there."

"Oh, so you have siblings?" Holly asked.

"Yeah, two, Nate and Rosa. I pretty much look after them, swipe sodas for them, beat up their bullies, big brother stuff. You actually remind me of Rosa a bit, not in looks, but you have the same kind of spunk even though you're really quiet, just like her." He let out a chuckle and slammed the rest of his soda. "Maybe that's why I felt such a need to step in, cause you reminded me of her so much." He shrugged again. "What can I say? Family's important."

Holly glanced back at her Pokemon and smiled softly. "Yeah, they are."

Hìlbert gave the faintest of smiles and gave a wave to Holly and her Pokemon.

"Take care out there."

"Yeah, you too Hilbert."

Holly walked her Pokemon out into the sunlight again as they left the Pokemon Center behind them. She paused and took a deep breath, enjoying the feeling of the lowering sun beam onto her. She heard the distinct clopping of Yon-Yon's hooves as she came up up beside Holly looking concerned.

"Holly, is everything alright? Did something happen while we were having our check up?" She asked.

"Yeah, and wasn't that the guy who tried to catch Mom?" Violet asked, his cheeks flushing as he said the last part. Yon-Yon smiled sweetly at him and turned back to face Holly, as had everyone else. Holly looked at the agog eyes and ears all facing her and chuckled nervously. There was just no hiding some things from them.

"Well, yeah, everything's fine." Holly told them. "I was sitting in the Center and Hilbert showed up, and helped me out of a tight spot. He also had my my bag, because I actually left it back on Route 3!" She pulled her satchel up to show them all _,_ but before they could get a good look at it Mythril jumped out at full force and landed perfectly on Yon-Yon's back. Everyone looked in amazement as it tapped its tiny feet against Yon-Yon before sitting down, seemingly approving of her seating arrangement.

"For not having any sight, I must say the scrap has some excellent aim." Louis admitted. Holly smiled and slung her satchel back over her shoulder before turning down the path that lead to the rows of warehouses, with the others following close behind her.

"But yeah, Hilbert is fine. He's not as bad as he seemed, I promise!" She hadn't told them about Dav, but she felt no need to. Holly had no intention of recounting the event, which even now made her want to spit up the small amount of food she had had today. A thought occurred to her, and she quickly dug in her bag until she found a smaller pouch that jingled when she picked it up. Her cash was still in there! Holly silently thanked the Legendaries that be for showing her an inordinate amount of luck today and showed the pouch to her Pokemon.

"Hey, guys? How about a little bit of shopping?" She asked with a flicker of a grin. Their looks alone were enough of an answer, and with a new spring in her step, Holly sped down to the market area, feeling a surge of happiness speed through her. She didn't have to worry about the police as much as she had been, she had her family beside her, and the wind wasn't biting at her heels. To hell with Dav and all the other problems that had seemed to snake around her for the past month, this was her life and she was ready to start enjoying it. What more could she ask for?

* * *

 **A.N: Thank you so much for reading, I can't thank you enough honestly. If you enjoyed, please tell me why, and if you didn't, definitely tell me why. Here's to a New Year everyone!**


	8. Chapter 8: The Second Step

**Chapter 8: The Second Step**

 _"I'm constantly jumping off cliffs and developing my wings on the way down... It's a gamble, a... spiritual gamble. You are who you choose to be." -_ Shia Labeouf

* * *

It was around the same time the next day when Holly suddenly vanished from the group, leaving them to their own devices for a few minutes.

"Sorry, but I don't eat granola, it's disgusting."

"Have you ever tried granola?"

"No..."

"Well then how do you know if it's disgusting?"

Yon-Yon was trying to convince Violet to give in and accept the granola bars Holly had bought. One of the warehouses was having a sale and Holly took the opportunity in a heartbeat, pocketing at least twenty bars and still having plenty of cash leftover. Unfortunately, she hadn't planned on some of her Pokemon being picky.

"Look, just try a bite, if you don't like it then you can eat some Oran Berries, but we aren't leaving until you eat something." Yon-Yon said firmly. Violet sighed, closing his eyes and reluctantly taking a bite of the bar Yon-Yon was offering him, gingerly chewing it until he eventually swallowed it with a slight grimace on his face. Yon-Yon watched with baited breath as he opened his eyes again and looked back at her.

"It's okay, I guess." He admitted. Yon-Yon smiled and sat beside him, taking a bite of her own bar. The group was currently enjoying the last bit of sunlight before nightfall outside of the Warehouses, with Violet and Yon-Yon having a seat right on a one of the benches laid out along the pathways. With the sun receding, the temperature sunk also, allowing the wind to nip at anyone unfortunate enough to be caught in it.

"Louis, I got him to eat the granola and guess what? He likes it!" Yon-Yon called to a preoccupied Louis. He was completely absorbed into an old television on a counter that was playing some black and white show from years long ago, and gave a dismissive, "What's that now?"

Yon-Yon shook her head, glancing up at a small hyperactive ball of rock that was currently tapping around on her head. Mythril the Roggenrola had taken quite a shine to Yon-Yon, hardly leaving the Blitzle since she had first jumped on her. Yon-Yon sighed and shook her head again.

"What on earth am I going to do with all of you?" Yon-Yon wondered aloud. With no reply, she turned back to Louis who was still focused intently on the old television.

"Louis, do you know where Holly went?" She called.

"Wuzzat?"

"I said, do you know where Holly went?"

"Erm, not sure. Think she said something about clothes or something of the sort."

Yon-Yon frowned while Violet let out a quiet yawn, curling up and wrapping his tail around his paws.

"Hope she hurries, it's getting too cold, plus all the running around we did has worn me out." Violet mumbled. The group had spent the day walking around and enjoying the brief warmth before the incoming cold and rain arrived, and had made the most out of it by seeing everything Nacrene City had to offer. That is except for one specific building that Holly seemed intent on avoiding.

Yon-Yon nodded in agreement just as Mythril began tapping wildly on the top of her head and causing quite a ruckus. Both Violet and Yon-Yon swapped looks before looking up at the rambunctious Pokemon in confusion.

"Something the matter dear?" Yon-Yon asked. Violet suddenly tapped her shoulder with his tail and nodded in the direction Mythril was facing, towards a rather well-kept looking warehouse where a girl had just walked out with a pile of dully colored cloths. Holly was instantly recognizable despite being buried under a mass of mauve, with her saggy grey beanie sticking out on top and her worn and torn jeans, not to mention the Oshawott that followed just behind her, carrying cloths of her own.

"Why?" Violet asked in bewilderment as Holly stumbled up to the bench. His eyes widened as the massive pile suddenly hung over him and quickly scooted out of the way, just in time to miss being squashed. He shot a look at Holly, who was wiping her brow with her sleeve.

"Boy, that was heavier than I thought it'd be. I wanted to get these nifty looking saddle bags, but they were too pricey." She said, taking a seat next to Yon-Yon and Violet. Louis eventually wandered over, growling at a passerby that almost stepped on his tail, and giving Holly a look similar to the one Violet had given her as he looked at the heap of cloth.

"Holly I hope you won't consider it rude when I ask what in the blue blazes you're planning on doing with a mountain of purple cloth." He told her. Holly smiled and nodded towards Marina, who was fiddling with her bandana.

"I thought that we should all have something like that, like her bandana. I figured they'd probably keep us a little bit warmer , and it'd help us easily distinguish us." She said.

"Yeah, or make us an easy target for anyone looking for us." Violet argued. Holly rolled her eyes and started shifting through the different pieces, picking up certain ones and discarding others. Louis sniffed them a few times while Marina wrapped one around her neck like a cape, giggling as she hopped up onto bench and pointed her paw to the sky.

"Holly look, my shell is the one that will pierce the heavens!" She cried. Holly laughed and high-fived her Pokemon, not entirely sure if her Pokemon even knew what she was referencing, but enjoyed it all the same.

"I don't get it." He muttered. Holly sighed and scooped the pile of purple into her arms, taking a few steady feet forward. Marina picked up her own helping, and was followed by Violet and Louis who each took a few pieces to carry themselves. Yon-Yon took her own helping to lighten the load and took the lead.

"Just follow my voice, Holly dear." Yon-Yon called back to the struggling trainer who, despite having shared a bit of the burden with the others, still could not full see where she was going.

"Wish I wasn't so small." She muttered. Yon-Yon heard this and called back to the slightly down trodden trainer.

"I'm sure you'll grow dear, Casey was about your height when she left home, and boy did she ever shoot up." She assured her. The group was quiet for the most part while they trekked back to the warehouse they had stayed in the night before. The warehouse in question offered a free space to anyone who needed a place to sleep for the night, with several lines of cots running up and down the interior, not to mention indoor heating. Most of these went to trainers like Holly who couldn't afford to book a room in the local Pokemon Center. When Holly and the others had arrived last night, there had only been a few other travelers staying, but tonight it seemed some new faces had showed up. Most of them were trainers like her, but they were all gathered around a Plasma member who was speaking gently to them about something that Holly couldn't make out.

Holly couldn't help but roll her eyes. _Probably trying to convince more kids to give up their Pokemon_ , she figured. If she hadn't been so tired, she likely would have gone up and done something about it, but as it was Holly couldn't wait to get to her cot and have a lie down. She could tell her Pokemon felt the same way just by how exhausted they were when they all finally gave in and dropped the clothes on Holly's cot.

"I'm going to bed early, goodnight everone." Violet muttered before curling up under the cot. Holly sympathized with him, there had just been so many different shops and markets that she couldn't help but visit every single one.

"Sorry Violet, wouldn't you rather sleep in your ball though?." She asked. Her reply was short grunt that she took as a "no". While everyone got ready for bed, Holly dug around in her bag to look through everything she had bought today. Her winnings from her first Gym, while still a lot, didn't exactly last her very long. They had been dangerously low on food and despite Yon-Yon finding them berries along Route 3, they only did so much to sate an appetite. Holly was also reminded by Louis that buying pokeballs would likely decrease the chances of someone mistaking her Pokemon for a wild one, and made sure to pick up enough for everyone to have a ball, along with a few extra in case she caught someone else. Unfortunately pokeballs weren't cheap, nothing in Unova was, and Holly was left with hardly a fraction of her original winnings.

"So, care to tell me why we now a bunch of grape colored cloth?" Louis asked from under her. Holly sighed a poked at the pile with regret slowly building through her.

"I don't know. Seemed like such a good idea at first, having a bunch of thick material since it's only going to get colder, and the shop owner I got it from was giving it for a good price! Now that I'm thinking about it though, this is going to be such a pain to carry, not to mention it'd probably look really tacky." Holly sighed and plopped her head down on her hand and stared glumly out at the softly glowing sky.

"True, it may not clash well with the rest of your clothes, but does that truly matter?" Yon-Yon asked as she laid her head against Holly's leg. "And while I'm personally fine with the idea, I would recommend carefully thinking out purchases in the future, just so you don't get disappointed afterwords." She looked at the pile and gently shifted through it until she found a violet shemagh scarf and wrapped it around her neck.

"Think this looks good on me?" She asked. Holly had to admit she looked pretty stellar with it on, and told her by all means to keep it. Holly suddenly reached in and pulled out several squares of cloth, studying each of them.

"I was thinking about using the extras to make like, a big quilt or something. Think that'd work?" She asked. Yon-Yon placed her head on Holly's knee and closed her eyes, her breathing gently slowing down as she drifted off to sleep.

"I think you can make anything work, Holly, you just have to push the worry aside and try." She mumbled wisely. Holly laid back against the cot and turned her head to stare out of the window, where she could see the silhouette of the mountains far in the distance, painted black by the nautical twilight behind it. Holly stroked the side of Marina's head as she crawled into the cot with her, and second by second, succumbed to sleep herself.

* * *

The next morning came all too soon for Holly and felt herself listlessly walking along the streets of Nacrene, the now cold and cloudy atmosphere making the city seem far less inviting then it had the day before. The news had been right in that rain was coming, and was surely going to begin pouring before the day's end. Holly peered up at the buildings and warehouses they were passing by, and purposely looked away once they reached a grand marble building to their right. Holly knew just looking at the place would surely make her knees weak, and instead ushered her Pokemon along until they reached the edge of town.

"Don't suppose you'd mind telling us where we're going so early in the morning?" Louis asked.

"Pops, it's going on noon." Violet retorted with a shake of his head.

"Yes scrap, that's my point." Louis grumbled. Marina peeked out from Holly's hat and looked down at her trainer.

"Where _are_ we going, Holly?" She asked. Holly shrugged, and just continued walking. The truth was she was taking them to a small grove where a some wild Pokemon lived, some of them being of the Fighting Type. Holly had overheard that morning from one of the trainers at the warehouse how the Gym in Nacrene was a Normal Type based Gym, and therefore weak to Fighting Types. Unfortunately though, from what she had overheard the Pokemon around the area really weren't fond of humans, and as such Holly made sure not to get her hopes up.

Holly was thankful her own Pokemon were so accepting of her silence, because explaining this just seemed like such a hassle that she didn't think she could handle in her tired state. Once on the outskirts, Holly stepped over a snapped fence and hoped she was going in the right direction, and not leading her and her Pokemon in some type of Watchog nest.

A jolt of panic swept through her as her foot caught in an exposed board, causing her to trip right onto a large set of railroad tracks that seemed immensely out of place. Holly rubbed her ankle tenderly before getting back up and looking at the tracks, which were so old and broken that it was clear they hadn't been used in her lifetime. A wooden beam board was even missing.

"Perhaps if you watched where you were going, you might trip over less tracks, and step on less tails." Louis told her with a cheeky grin on his face. Holly resisted the urge to give him a good kick, and instead looked around to take in her surroundings. The break in trees contrasted so heavily with the road that lay only a short distance from them, that it almost seemed like an entirely different world from their perspective. The grass seemed far more lush and greener on this side of the fence, and aside from the sudden railroad track, seemed for the most part devoid of artificial scenery. As pretty as it was, Holly's unease was growing by the second. Something just felt out of place, and it wasn't because of the railroad tracks.

Without a word, they walked deeper into clearing, the sound of their feet rustling against the grass being the loudest noise for what seemed like miles. Their walk began to get strange and stranger as they passed trees that ahd been knocked over or were broken in an abnormal fashion. This seemed to resonate with the rest of the group and sparked calm conversations about their being here.

"What in the Hell's bells are we doing in this place?!" Louis exclaimed. Holly gently tried to explain she had been hoping to find a Fighting Type to add to the team, but regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth.

"A Fighting Type?! Holly look, I try to reserve a good amount of trust for you, as my trainer, but this is ridiculous!" Louis hissed. "We should leave, it's far too dangerous to be here!"

"Dangerous?" Holly echoed. Surely it couldn't be any more dangerous than walking through a Route all on their own, with only themselves for any form of protection against the wild.

"Yes! Holly Fighting Types are very ruthless and can be considered more treacherous than Dark Types when provoked." He told her, his voice now significantly lower.

"Yeah, they're not exactly a friendly bunch." Violet whispered. Holly saw Yon-Yon frown at the both of them before adding her say.

"Really now, that's just stereotyping!" She scolded. Holly didn't know too much about Pokemon Typing in general aside from some basic advantages so she wasn't quite sure who was right here.

"Hardly, do you not see the demolished trees?" Louis asked skeptically. Holly and Marina watched back and forth as the disagreement unfolded, their heads swaying left to right over and over with the end nowhere in sight. Great, now she had started an argument. If there was one thing she despised, it was family arguments. Too many screaming matches between her mother and father had resulted in a nasty fear of the things, and she immediately went to suggest that they should all just leave and go back to the warehouse. In the middle of doing so, a small tap to the side of her face made her look up to see Marina pointing at a certain Roggenrola who was tapping around like mad.

Mythril had slid off of Yon-Yon's back the moment the raised voices had come out, and was currently tapping her little feet at lightning speeds whilst facing the woods behind them. Holly turned to see what Mythril was flipping out about, and regretted it the second she did. Just behind them were several pairs of slanted eyes all hiding in the overgrown bushes and trees, staring at the entire group with troublesome glares.

Holly couldn't speak, couldn't make a single sound. For some reason, she thought that if she didn't move and kept her eyes focused on the numerous glowing slits behind them, then perhaps for some mystical reason they wouldn't move as well, that they would simply remain in the bushes and not make any hostile movements whatsoever. Holly thought wrong.

As if on cue, the figures in the bushes suddenly leaped out all at once. Holly had never seen a Pokemon like them before, small and humanoid with large wooden beams slung around their shoulders, with others carrying them like a batter would a baseball bat. She didn't have time to consider the appearance of her incoming attackers however, she was too busy trying to run away from them. With a quick yelp of panic and a "Run!" to alert the others she turned and swiftly picked up a shaking Mythril and tossed her in the satchel, holding onto her hat as she ran with her other Pokemon right at her side.

The sound of footsteps pounding behind them was ever ringing in Holly's ears, mixed with their own heavy breathing only added to Holly's rising panic. Broken trees and bushes were flying past them, insignificant obstacles that would only distract them if they focused on them for too long. Instead, Holly focused on what was ahead of her, such as those ferns or the trees in the distance, or the railroad track that was directly in front of her.

With a well-timed leap Holly managed to make it over the track, avoiding any chance of her getting her foot caught in-between the planks. Unfortunately the same could not be said for violet, for when Holly looked back she saw with jolt of fear that Violet had done exactly what she'd avoided. His left back paw was caught right in-between the plank of wood and and the rusted metal rail, and the irate Pokemon were closing in.

Violet scrambled to his paws and attempted to pull himself out by pushing with his other back paw, but no matter how hard he pushed it simply wouldn't come loose. Holly saw the look on his face quickly slip from annoyance, to realization, to fear. His eyes blinked and revealed that tears were starting to form as he turned to look at the others who looked back at him with the same fear in their eyes.

"Don't leave me!" He begged. "Please!" The tears were streaming now, mixed with tiny sobs that were slowly becoming more apparent. Holly couldn't bear to watch her Pokemon suffer, physically or emotionally, and forced herself to push her feet forward. She found it surprisingly easy, to step towards the spitting face of danger for Violet. She saw Louis and Yon-Yon rush to his side in an attempt to free his paw, but Holly stepped past them, and ran as fast as she could towards the oncoming Pokemon. The distant promise seemed to ring in her head about not letting her own Pokemon be left behind or to die alone, only now did she realize how childish it sounded, like something a child might say to seem cool or heroic. Regardless of how silly it had seemed, she was now being tested for that promise. Woulds she pass or would she freeze up like she had in her first battle? The odds were higher now, with these Pokemon carrying thick logs that could easily break her hip with one fell swing.

 _Pass_ , she decided as she reared her foot back and kicked as hard as she could muster at the leading Pokemon. Something about it seemed so natural, there was no holding back to prevent her from hurting her own self, no hesitation, just pure reflex as her foot made contact with whatever Pokemon was trying to harm her own. Time seemed to have slowed to an unreal level as she saw the blood spray from the Pokemon mouth and it was pushed backward, away from her, and away from her Pokemon. Unfortunately time seemed to have had enough of slowing down and sped back up in an instant, and before Holly knew it she felt pain explode throughout her body as several wooden beams struck her body in unison.

Holly couldn't tell what was happening, all she knew was that most of her body felt like it had been slammed into by a Gigalith and that her Pokemon needed her help. She tried to get to her feet, and to her surprise she managed to. Hoping the adrenaline would stay kicked in, she looked around she saw her friends holding off the oncoming pack by whatever means necessary; Yon-Yon had paralyzed one and was fending off another with her agility and quick timed bolts of electricity, Marina was spraying jets of water at one while Mythril was flinging sharp stones with her feet, and Louis was desperately trying to pry Violet's paw out of its entrapment. Out from the corner of Holly's eye though, she saw another one charging towards Louis and Violet with its beam in sticking out like a jousting lance. From behind them though Holly could see another speeding towards them. They were trapped.

There was no possible way she could reach them in time, even if she called out to warn them, Violet was still stuck. No matter what she did someone was going to be hit, and she wasn't sure if they'd be able to survive. Even as she pushed her feet off of the course dirt and and screamed for them to look out, she knew deep down it was no use. One of the Pokemon was mere feet away from Violet, his joist seconds from spearing the cornered Purrloin who looked up at the last second, his eyes wide with fear as the beam prepared to slam into him.

But it never did. Instead everyone was greeted to a sight that none of them, not even the Pokemon, expected; the attacking Pokemon roared past Violet and Louis and kept going. He swung his plank back and slapped the one coming up behind them so hard that Holly heard its jaw break, giving off a sound like a gunshot. As it fell to the ground, the one who had struck it slung his board over his shoulder and turned to the remaining attackers looking downright murderous.

"Bark!" One of the Pokemon cried. "Just what the hell are you doing, you maniac?! I knew we couldn't trust you after-" But they never finished their sentence, for at that exact moment the one called "Bark" had hurled his plank at their face and sent them crashing into a tree; they didn't get up. The others all looked at Bark with a mixture of fear and hatred, and unanimously rushed him with a battle cry loud enough to make Holly's ears ring. A sudden voice snapped Holly out of her fixed daze at the absolute debacle that taking place in front of her, and she turned to see Louis had managed to free Violet. Yon-Yon had Mythril and Marina on her back and was urging Holly to hurry.

"They're distracted, Holly! Come on!" She called. Holly took one last look at the battle ensuing before turning tail and chasing after her own Pokemon. The path leading back onto the street was right around the corner, but Holly was sure she wouldn't feel safe again until she was snuggled up on her cot where it was safe and warm. Holly's eyes drifted to Violet, who she noticed was lagging behind and also limping. Slowing her pace to his level, she reached down and picked him up and held him in her arm.

"T-thanks Holly." He shivered in her arm and Holly only nodded in response, unsure if he even saw it. Holly swerved quickly and skidded in the dirt, picking herself back up and hopping up over the broken fence and landing clumsily on pavement opposite of it. Slightly out of breath, Holly put a hand over her chest in an attempt to calm her breathing and looked around at where she had landed. The others were there, not nearly as winded as she was, and were looking at each other with both unease and relief as they realized they had all made it out.

"What the _devil_ were you thinking?!" Louis suddenly turned on Holly and narrowed his eyes at her. "Violet could've been killed, Hell, we all could have been killed because you thought it'd be fun to wander into a pack of Fighting Types!" Holly didn't quite know what to say and simply buried her neck lower into her hoodie in shame. Louis was right, any one of them could've died thanks to her, especially Violet. It was a miracle they had made it out relatively unharmed.

"Now just a second! If I remember correctly, Holly was in the middle of saying something about leaving before the Timburr attacked us, so you can't just blame her for it!" Yon-Yon chided. This was slowly turning into another argument Holly would give anything to avoid, and as luck would have it she managed to thanks to a figure walking out of the trees behind them. Everyone quickly took several steps back, preparing to either fight or run back to town, but Holly could tell they weren't about to be ambushed. There was only one figure, obviously a Timburr, and they were hobbling towards the fence while dragging their log behind them. Holly watched as the Timburr tried to climb over the fence, looked up at them, nodded, and promptly fell onto the other side out cold.

"He doesn't look too good." Yon-Yon mumbled, and indeed he did not. He had several bruises scattered throughout his oddly veiny body that were a sickly reddish color, and had a dribble of blood coming down from his bottom lip. Holly didn't have to take a guess at which one this was, she knew this had to be Bark, the Timburr who had come up from nowhere and distracted the other Timburr.

"Good, he's in no state to leap up at us then." Louis muttered.

"Maybe we should take him to the Pokemon Center or something?" Marina asked. She was peering at the unconscious Timburr from Yon-Yon's back.

"Have you lost your marbles too, scrap? We need to leave, now, before he wakes back up!" Louis hissed.

"Not a chance!" Yon-Yon butted back in. "We can't just leave him to die! Think about it Louis, if it wasn't for him we wouldn't have made it out of there unscathed." She reasoned. Louis looked from Yon-Yon to Bark, and gazed steadily at the fallen Timburr for a good couple of seconds before letting out a weary sigh and conceding.

"Fine, fine, that seems fair." He admitted. He gave a curt nod to Holly who reached into her bag and pulled out one of the Heal Balls Cheren had given her and gently tossed it. The ball bounced against him and shot a beam of bluish light that absorbed the Timburr, dropping to the earthy ground with a small click of finality. So in silence, Holly sucked each of them back into their respective ball, and hiked back to the Pokemon Center in Nacrene. Holly took this time to shamefully scold herself for needlessly risking her Pokemon's lives yet again. She really wasn't good at this whole Pokemon Trainer thing, and wondered why she had even bothered to become one in the first place.

 _Oh yeah, I ran away,_ she remembered. Her life was going in the complete opposite of where she thought it would have a month ago. Back then, all she had to worry about was whether or not her mother had paid her debts to her dealers, and making sure they had enough money for that months rent. Now she just trying to keep her and her Pokemon alive. Things sure did have a weird way of turning around when she didn't expect it.

Looking down at the Heal Ball in her hands, she felt a sliver of doubt cross her mind. She kind of agreed with Yon-Yon that it was thanks to Bark that they managed to free Violet, but at the same time she was taking a big risk. If he suddenly awoke and barged out of his ball, which she knew too well was within the capabilities of Pokemon even weaker than him, then there was a good chance he would be absolutely pissed and probably attack them. Then again, he did sort of save Violet...

Speaking of which, Holly looked back to see Violet slowly trailing behind them. Holly hoped he didn't feel guilty, it wasn't his fault he got stuck after all.

 _Just like it wasn't your fault you got ambushed_ , the sly voice in the back of her head whispered to her.

No that was definitely my bad, she retorted. She did not feel like arguing with herself, she was starting to do that far too often to be what was considered normal. Then again, her life had become increasingly less and less normal. All she wanted to do was go back to her cot and sleep for a couple of days, or weeks. Either sounded delightful at this point.

Holly let her thoughts gently slip back to the promise of her cot, and soon found herself back at the Pokemon Center in no time at all. She mumbled to the nurse up at the front desk about what happened, and asked if she could possibly leave it there since she wasn't sure she could take care of it.

"Suppose it couldn't hurt. I'll see if we don't have a place for this guy, who knows, might have a trainer looking for one." The nurse commented. He picked up the Heal Ball and examined it before putting it back on the counter and looking at Holly skeptically. "You sure you don't want him? If you're going to challenge Lenora over at the Gym, you might want this guy on your team." He said.

Holly felt a shiver go through her spine as the nurse spoke and shook her head as quick as she could, anything to get away from the subject at hand.

"Oh. Well, I mean, if you say so." The nurse shrugged. "Was there anything else I could help you with?" Holly shook her head, mumbled out her thanks, and left. She was trying her best to avoid the giant mueseum-turned Gym at the northern most point in the town, but it was becoming increasingly more and more challenging. She wasn't sure why she was so scared whereas when she challenged her first Gym she was only a little bit nervous. Maybe now because she knew the stakes were higher, or perhaps her anxiety was just getting the better of her. Either way, she knew it was unavoidable.

Holly deliberately took a right before going onto the road that went past the Gym and parked herself on a bench outside of some shop or another. The wind had started to pick up again and Holly instinctively nuzzled into the fluffy collar of her jacket while she opened up her satchel and reached inside to pull out some of the mauve cloth she had purchased. She had stored the rest at her cot at the warehouse and kept only a small portion in her bag in case the situation called for it, and it would seem the situation did indeed call for it, for Holly had an idea.

"Might as well." She muttered, reaching into her pockets and tossing out her pokeballs, releasing each of her Pokemon out around her. They looked at her, confused to be out in the open again instead of back inside the warm awaiting warehouse, and eventually noticed the small assortment of purple piled next to their sheepishly grinning trainer.

"Alright guys, pick something." Holly said as she motioned towards the heap. "Try to make sure you get something warm though." Holly watched as Louis and Violet nosed through the pile as Yon-Yon and Marina already had theirs. Louis eventually came up with a sort of sweatband he had wrapped around his paw, saying his fur kept him plenty warm, while Violet decided on a neckerchief that Holly had to help wrap around his neck. Holly managed to tie a little bow around Mythril's antenna after having to practically hold her down, that she thought looked rather fitting. Avoiding the strange looks being cast at her from the various passerby, she stuffed the pile back into her bag, and took a good long look at her little family, all wearing similar shades of purple on some part of them. Something about it made them seem more unified, even if they didn't agree on everything, they were still one group that looked after each other. Holly liked that.

"So, we going to fight this Gym, then?" Louis asked. Holly almost laughed it off, but found she couldn't. As much as she wanted to deny it, some small part of her brain had brought them out as a form of motivational boost, and it was working. As scared as she was, she was also well aware of the fact that this was inevitable if they wanted to stay financially afloat. Letting out a sigh and stretching her arms, she nodded.

"Yeah, I guess we are."

"Well good! You've been avoiding it so much I almost thought you'd forgotten." Louis teased. Yon-Yon and Marina flashed encouraging smiles towards their trainer while Violet laughed apprehensively, and Mythril gave what Holly hoped was a supportive hop. It was almost like their argument in the woods had never happened, something Holly was more than willing to accept. Her reasoning was that if they weren't distracted by being mad at each other, they'd do better in battle. Perhaps the others had realized this, and were following suit to increase their chances.

"Guess we really have to go through with it?" Holly asked. She knew backing out wasn't exactly an option, but she preferred having any doubt stamped out of her beforehand. Louis shook his head, sympathy in his gaze as their eyes locked.

"Unless you'd like to starve, I'm afraid so." He told her. Holly sighed and stretched her arms out, trying to make every second count before she had to lead her Pokemon to the Gym. With a slight nod, she stood up and tried to put on the bravest face she could muster. She hoped she didn't look as nervous as she felt.

"Come on, let's go kick this Gym Leader's ass." Holly told the others. She was met with a battle cry of cheers and a slightly disapproving look from Yon-Yon, but even her motherly Blitzle gave a fierce cry that pumped Holly up more than anything. So what if she didn't have a type advantage? Her family was going to show this Gym how things worked, whether they liked it or not.

* * *

Though the Gym was only a street across from them, the walk there seemed to change the atmosphere into something wholly different. No longer were they in the cloudy sky and lulled city of Nacrene with the calming sound of a musician playing from a cafe down the road, now they were taking on the very heart of the city, and the musician was playing their battle theme as they stepped towards the now castle of a museum.

Holly couldn't help but pause to look up at the structure. Now that she got a good look at it, it really did seem like some sort of medieval castle, but as the sign above the entrance clearly stated, the building was unfortunately just a museum. Holly noticed that amidst the people walking past her, one was cloaked in a Plasma uniform. Were they just following her at this point?

"Do all Gyms normally double as a some sort of facility?" Marina asked.

"That's... a good question Marina." Holly remarked. She looked over at Louis, he usually had a response to something like this, but he was too busy staring at Yon-Yon. So, without anything else to stop them, Holly walked straight through the grand entrance and into whatever awaited her and her Pokemon. Or at least she would have if she hadn't had bumped into somebody. Holly rubbed her forehead as a sickening pain shot through it, causing her vision to blur as she stumbled backwards. Thankfully Yon-Yon stopped her from falling over, and after regaining her composure looked up to see who she had run into.

"Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." Holly murmured. The person she had ran into shook their head and Holly saw a spark of recognition flash in their eyes. Had they met? Looking at the long tousled hair that was a clear shade of fern, Holly recognized him as the trainer she had battled back in Accumula after Plasma's whole song and dance. He was wearing a long button-down shirt and khakis, giving the appearance of an average-joe on the street, but something was off about him. His eyes were glassy and had a sort of dead stare in them that creeped Holly out big time. He stared at Holly without saying a word, just looking at her up and down as if she was an intense equation he was trying to solve. Holly and her Pokemon swapped looks before finally, he spoke.

"Hello." He said simply.

"Hi." Holly replied.

Silence. The only sound was the wind swelling around them as darker clouds started rolling in high up above. A storm was coming.

"Tell me," He said suddenly. "How do you feel about Pokemon being inside of pokeballs?"

Holly was so caught off guard by the question that she wasn't really sure how to respond other than, "Uh..." but luckily the trainer wasn't done talking as he continued speaking quite rapidly, as though he had rehearsed the words hundreds of times the night before.

"They're supposedly in the works of passing a bill that outlaws Pokemon training, did you know?" He asked. "I can't help but wonder if this is the correct path towards a future where Pokemon are perfect, for that is the world I wish to see. The world nobody else sees. Do you feel the same?"

Holly's mouth gaped open at the strange trainer. She was still trying to contemplate what he had spewed from his mouth and his eyes seemed completely focused on her, unblinking. This was the type of person parents warned their children not to follow into dark alleys, or to interact with at all really, but Holly didn't have much of a choice as he was blocking the doorway. What was it he had said? Something about seeing the world?

"Yeah, I guess." Holly mumbled. His gaze continued to pierce her like a knife, and Holly was feeling a nervous twitch coming on in her jaw. Perhaps she should leave, and just come back some other time, like when this guy wasn't blocking the doorway. After all it wasn't like the Gym was going anywhere anytime-

"Is that so? My friends and I would very much like to see if you speak the truth. They're as eager as I am it seems."

Holly didn't have time to register what he was talking about, for he had already thrown a pokeball onto the ground and released his Pidove onto the ground. Holly took a few steps back and cursed under her breath, she really didn't need this right now. The Pidove cocked its head at Holly, staring at her with a curious expression that implied it didn't quite understand why it was was here.

 _Let's see, I think it's a Flying Type so naturally its weakness would be..._

"Yon-Yon." Holly said. Her Blitzle strode right up beside her and nodded back at Holly in understanding.

"I'm with you." She told her trainer. Holly beamed and pointed at the Pidove, cocking its head at the both of them. Their Trainer, his face expressionless, pointed towards Yon-Yon and Holly.

"Could you use Gust, please?" He asked. His Pidove reared its wings and prepared an blast of air, but it was cut short by Holly who was already jittery and on edge.

"Shock wave!" Holly ordered with a wave of her hand. Yon-Yon had already emanated a wave of electricity by the time the Pidove had spread its wings, causing it to be blasted back against the ground with a flop, unconscious. Holly felt a small glimmer of hope shine inside her, she had taken out his first Pokemon with just a single attack! If her Pokemon were this strong, maybe she stood a chance against the Gym Leader of Nacrene.

The Trainer looked down at his unconscious Pokemon and picked it up, cradling it like a small child. Holly saw him speaking to it, but she couldn't make out the words. After a second he pulled something small and yellow out of his pocket that glinted in the sunlight, and fed it to the Pidove. The Pokemon awoke and seemed completely rejuvenated, giving a little flap of its wings and looking from Holly to the trainer. The trainer smiled and patted it on the head before bringing out its pokeball, and to Holly's shock pulled hard on the two ends of the open ball, snapping it in two.

The trainer bade the Pidove farewell, before it soared into the air and flew away towards the Pinwheel forest, leaving their battle behind. Holly's mouth was still open when the trainer spoke to her.

"I've heard a bit about you. Awful stories that say you used to torture innocent little Pidoves like the once I just released, or ones that you killed a Pansear back in Striaton City." He spoke calmly, but there was clearly a bitterness in his his words. Holly felt whatever bleak bit of hope had that blossomed die, leaving her feeling like a deflated balloon. Just when she thought she could leave all of that behind, the fact that she had been labeled as a Pokemon abuser simply wouldn't truly leave her be.

"Whatever you've heard is a lie, Holly is perhaps one of the kindest girls I've ever met." Yon-Yon challenged. "If not a bit careless, I know her heart is in the right place."

"That's right! I don't suppose you heard that it was actually our comrade that was slain, now did you?" Louis growled. Holly felt a rush of affection for her Pokemon, and turned back to face the trainer who seemed to be genuinely surprised at her Pokemon's outcry. He met Holly's stare and seemed to gaze into her very soul.

All he said was, "Your Pokemon say some very interesting things." before tossing out another ball onto the sidewalk between them. This time a small blue Pokemon with a cute little face in its center: a Tympole. The trainer wasted no time in ordering it to attack with a pulse of water that made Yon-Yon recoil for a second, only for her to send another powerful wave of electricity through the air.

The Tympole squeaked as it was thrown backwards, but it didn't seem to be done yet as it got up and closed its eyes in concentration. A bright beam of light shone from its forehead, but as far as Holly could tell it didn't do any physical damage to Yon-Yon; she seemed to be fine. That is of course until she took a closer look at her Blitzle, who's eyes had crossed and she seemed to be stumbling as she tried to walk.

"Oh no, are you okay Yon-Yon?" Holly asked. Yon-Yon nodded, only to trip over her own feet and tumble into the ground. Holly winced and quickly recalled Yon-Yon, looking at who to send out next. Marina was hopping up and down, obviously eager to get in the fray, but Holly shook her head and motioned for Violet to come out.

"Sorry Marina, you'll get your turn." She promised. Marina pouted, but nodded all the same while Violet lashed his tail anxiously and hopped up to where the Tympole was waiting with a smug look that didn't fit its cutesy face.

"Alright, let's see... Fury Swipes!" Holly decided. Violet wiped the smirk off of the Tympole within seconds, landing blow after blow with his claws, pushing the Tympole back until finally smacking it so hard it fell over in utter defeat. Violet straightened his posture and smiled proudly back at his trainer, who gave him two thumbs up in reply. The opposing trainer frowned and knelt down beside his Tympole. He did the same thing he had done last time, cradling it and feeding it a glittering object before snapping its ball in two and sending it on its way. Holly was amazed, she had never met another trainer like this one. At first she thought he was releasing them because they had lost, but that didn't seem to be the case. He seemed to releasing them for their sake, not his own.

The trainer remained silent this time, no longer goading Holly. Instead he tossed out one last ball, releasing a grey bipedal Pokemon that Holly unfortunately recognized as soon she laid eyes on it, after all, they had just been attacked by a group of them not too long ago. A Timburr with a log strung over his shoulder met all of their eyes, including Violet's, who was now taking a few steps back from the menacing Fighting Type.

"Timburr, could you deal with them please?" The trainer asked politely. The Timburr nodded and readjusted his log, grinning mischievously at the now shaking Purrloin.

"Yeah, just leave it to me!" He replied. The Timburr began walking towards Violet, something that seemed far more intimidating than rushing at him, and Holly knew she had to withdraw her Purrloin immediately, and did just that. She didn't have time to think about what the best choice would be, and sent out the first Pokemon she could think of.

"Marina!" Holly ordered. Marina gave a small whoop and rushed past Violet, going head first towards the incoming Timburr.

 _Oh my god what have I done,_ Holly thought as she watched her Oshawott race towards the Fighting Type. She shouldn't have done that, what was she thinking sending Marina against a beast like that? There was no way she would be able to take on a Fighting Type, she barely came up to Holly's thigh for goodness' sake.

"Low kick." The trainer said blankly. The Timburr, using his log as support, leaped up and kicked Marina right across the face, sending her reeling back into the stone pavement below her. Holly didn't have time to cry out, Marina had already kicked off against the ground and tackled the log, causing the Timburr who had been trying to pull the same trick to fall onto the ground, hard.

"Holy- Wow, uh, spray the eyes Marina!" Holly called. Marina turned and sprayed a jet of water like a half covered water hose at the Timburr, who was trying to regain his balance. The Timburr cursed as water lashed against his eyes and dropped his log, covering his eyes in an attempt to get the water out. Marina took this perfect opportunity to jump and bash her head right against her opponent, knocking him out cold and effectively winning the match.

"Yeah! Game set!" Marina cried. Holly closed her now gaping mouth and put her hands on her knees, letting out a slight chuckle. She really did let her worry get the better of her. Now that she took a look at the defeated Timburr, she could see he wasn't nearly as big or strong as the ones they had fought in the Pinwheel Forest, if anything he looked smaller. Not to mention once again she hadn't given Marina her credit; she was becoming a feisty little Oshawott, and certainly had the strength to back it up. She made a mental note not to underestimate her from now on.

The trainer across from her didn't emit any sign of frustration or confusion, instead he simply crouched down and stared blankly at the space between Holly and him, lost in his own thought.

All Holly could hear was, "It appears I am not able to see... The world itself is to be determined..." and other vague mutterings. Holly didn't know what to say, until he finally closed his eyes and stood back up. When he finally opened them, Holly felt as though she were gazing into an abyss, and the abyss was staring back at her.

"I suppose I'm simply not strong enough yet. That's okay. Isn't that what trainers desire? To get stronger? But how our end goals are oh so different. I have some new new friends to make." And without so much as a farewell, he did the same thing he had with his other Pokemon and released the Timburr, and promptly left. Holly and her Pokemon watched as he turned around the corner and disappeared from sight, still not entirely sure what to think of the mysterious trainer.

"That guy is unnatural." Louis muttered. Holly nodded, at least that was something they could agree on.

 _If he was anything to go by, the next Gym Leader should be a breeze,_ Holly reminded herself. It was one of the few hopes she had, and was really leaning on it at this point.

She looked around at each of her Pokemon, making sure each of them were still in peak condition. When she reached Yon-Yon, she especially made sure there weren't any lasting effects that might hinder her in the upcoming battle. She assured Holly that her confusion had worn off, and that she was just as ready as the others. Marina climbed up Holly and took her usual spot in Holly's beanie while Mythril hopped up on Yon-Yon's back, with Louis and Violet at Holly's other side. Holly couldn't see them being any more ready than they already were for their Gym Battle, and with the faintest of smiles, pushed through the large jade colored doors and walked into their next Gym.

* * *

Holly's mouth gaped open as they all stepped inside, and she saw just how big the museum truly was. Near the ceiling were wide glass panels that filtered in the light from the outside, allowing the exhibits below to be bathed in a natural lighting that seemed to make them radiate and sparkle. Just from the entrance Holly could several exhibits lined up against the various walls and counters, all of which were nothing when compared to the towering fossil of a humongous Pokemon in the center of the hall. If Holly had to take a guess, she'd bet her money that that was the main attraction. While the top of its head didn't nearly reach the ceiling, it had to be at least six times taller than Holly, if not more. Holly wasn't the only one marveling at the fossil though, her own Pokemon were all transfixed at the gigantic relic as well.

Holly was so focused on it that she didn't even notice that a man was walking towards her and had stuck his hand out in greeting.

"Howdy, welcome to the Nacrene Museum, the largest museum in all of Unova!" He grasped Holly's hand and shook it so hard Holly thought her arm my pop out of place. "Unfortunately we're closed for the week due to some cleaning and maintenance that's long overdue, so I'm afraid you'll have to come back after Friday." He admitted sheepishly. Holly felt both relieved and disappointed, on one hand she had kinda been anticipating having her Gym battle today, on the other hand her anxiety about fighting the Gym Leader had been slowly growing and she was glad she'd be able to put it off.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was closed." She apologized. The man waved a hand and shook his head.

"No worries here, no harm no foul. Yeah, we're only allowing Gym challengers in today-" He paused and at that moment seemed to notice all of Holly's Pokemon beside her. "-which I'm assuming you must be!" He slapped a hand against his face and shook his head, motioning for Holly to follow him.

"I'm awfully sorry about that, my wife says I'm not the sharpest knife in the crayon drawer and boy is she ever right. My name is Hawes, pleasure to meet you!" He exclaimed and shook Holly's hand once again. Holly gave a nervous laugh and nodded. She wasn't going to get out of this that easy. Hawes took a sudden sharp left and wheeled Holly over to where some of the exhibits were.

"Say, how about a quick tour, if you're not in any rush? I make a mean tour guide, lemme tell you" Without waiting for an answer he motioned towards a display case where an old and rusty crown lay. It was ancient, and had several cracks and chips scattered throughout it. The jewel in the center was dull and lifeless, though Holly had the feeling it had once shone with brilliance and feeling.

"This here is believed to be the crown worn by the older brother who created over the Unova region thousands of years ago." Hawes explained. "I'm sure you know the story of the two brothers, so I won't bore you with the details, but historians think that this is the exact crown presented to him when he began his rule."

Holly cocked her head to the side. Two brothers? She had never heard any tale about them whatsoever and explained this to Hawes who's mouth gaped open when he heard this.

"Really? Never?! Oh my, you must look into it sometime, truly one of the finer stories of our history. I think we may have a book in the back about it actually." Moving onto the next exhibit, he showed her a cavalry sword that was used in the Unovan civil war, along with several bits and bobs from different parts of history. While Holly wasn't the most knowledgeable in her region's history, she couldn't help but be interested by all different facts and stories Hawes was telling her, something about i just seemed to spark with her inner curiosity. Finally after going into detail about a small meteorite from space, they came to the last exhibit of the hall, where a small white stone about about as big as Holly's fist sat.

"This here, is uh..." Hawes paused and smiled awkwardly agained. "This is actually just a really cool stone me and my wife found in a ruined castle over near Route 4. Man that was a freaky vacation." He recalled. Hawes sighed and shook the memory from his mind and began walking towards the back stairwell which lead to a wooden door. Holly followed after him but paused as they reached the top and looked back where the towering fossil lay, bathed in sunlight.

"Mr. Hawes, you didn't mention that one." Holly informed him. He turned and gazed at the fossil himself, a twinkle in his eye and a soft, "Ahh" escaping his lips. Holly had the feeling that he hadn't forgot it at all, and was pretending for dramatic effect.

"Yes yes, our bright and shining beauty. Well, that, is a fossil we discovered in the northern part of the region. We've been told that it may very well be the remains of one of the legendary dragons of Unova, again relating back to the story of the two brothers. Unfortunately until we get a reply from the Department of Unovan Mythology Branch, which we've been waiting for for nearly a year now, we won't know for sure." He explained.

"Dumb?" Holly asked skeptically. Hawes nodded and said, "It is indeed very dumb. It shouldn't take more than a week or two, but here we are. They said they'd send someone over today and- oh, that must be them!" He interjected and waved to a group of people in navy coveralls who had just walked in. Hawes turned back to face Holly and gestured for her to walk through the door.

"My wife should be in the back of the library, have fun getting to her though, it's a bit of a doozy sometimes. She's strong, and kinda strict, but she's fair, so good luck!" Without an explanation he gave her a pat on the back and left to go help the newcomers.

"Wait, your wife is the Gym Leader?!" Holly asked, but Hawes didn't seem to hear her. Marina stared at him in disbelief as he walked away and asked quietly, "Does he not realize what the acronym spelled?"

"I didn't have the heart to tell him." Holly admitted and shot at smile at her friends. Turning to face the doorway, she gave a deep breath and tried to look determined. There was no going back now. She pushed open the door and felt the air suddenly grow warmer, the lights become dimmer, and her will become weaker. This, Holly thought, is how a library should be. The only sources of light came from a fireplace at the end of the room, and dimly lit torches lined up against the thin wooden columns that jutted out from the wall, giving the room a dark and moody feel mixed with the hundreds of books lined up on the shelves that sat inside the bookshelves. The room was devoid of life, minus themselves, and as the door creaked shut behind them the room itself became darker, and they were suddenly on their own.

Nobody spoke, and nobody moved. They just stood there like statues, hardly daring to breathe. Was something going to jump out at them? Holly tentatively took a step forward, and when nothing changed, she took another. Nothing. It appeared that they were truly alone.

"Well now what?" Marina asked, breaking the silence. Holly shrugged, just as confused as her companions. Their first Gym had been a restaurant and had taken them less than a minute to find the Leader and challenge him, this however was vastly different. With no one to point them in a direction, Holly decided to find her own way and began walking around the Library.

"Isn't it a massive fire hazard to have all these torches around a room filled with books?" Louis asked. Holly had to admit he had a point, especially if this was where the battle was to take place. Her stomach lurched as her foot dropped, and realized she had stepped in a broken floorboard.

"Not to mention the upkeep is less than safe." Yon-Yon noted. "Are you okay, Holly dear?" Holly nodded and dusted off her jeans, looking back up while the others wandered around in search of some sort of sign. Something had caught Holly's eye by the fireplace, and she walked over to see a book lying open just mere feet from where the fire was cackling. On the opened page was just a single sentence.

" _If you have me, you want to share me. But if you share me, you no longer have me. What am I?_ " Holly read aloud.

"What?" Marina asked. Holly motioned for them to come over to where she was, and they all gathered around the book to take a look at the page. Holly had no idea what in the world the book was asking, but clearly Violet did for he began bobbing up and down with excitement. Everyone turned to see him skip his way over to the page where he padded his paws against the floor with enthusiasm.

Holly had never seen her Purrloin so eager and leaned over next to him to inspect the paper.

"Do you, uh, understand it?" She asked. With a little hop he nodded and turned bearing the largest grin Holly had ever seen.

"Yes, yes of course! It's a riddle!" He told them. He ran a paw against the paper and at first Holly thought he was concentrating on the riddle itself, but soon understood he was thinking about a different time and place.

"Me and my brother Dusk used to throw these back and forth at each other like there was there was no tomorrow." He explained. Holly didn't know Violet had a brother, and apparently nobody else did since surprise seemed to light up on each of their faces. Violet seemed to be so deep in reminisce that he had completely forgotten that they were ina Gym and Holly had to gently nudge him to bring him back to reality.

"You never told us you have a brother, Violet." She said softly. Violet turned to her and shrugged, retracting his paw from the paper.

"He died a while back, sickness. I suppose my family gets sick pretty easily, cause our dad went the same way." He said nonchalantly. "Anyway, I think I know the answer to this one."

"You do? What is it?" Marina asked.

Violet studied the paper again and put a paw to his chin in thought.

"If you have it you'll want to share it, but if you share it you won't have it, the answer is 'secret'." He said. At that exact moment a loud thump sounded from behind them, causing them to jump. Holly put a hand to her chest and took several deep breaths; she really hated when that happened. The room was empty still, yet something had to have moved to create such a booming noise.

Holly gingerly stepped over in the direction it had came from, between a shelf and the wall, and was met only with the soft flickering of one of the torches; nobody was there. Holly couldn't understand what had made the noise, thankfully Louis caught something her eyes had not. a book on the floor. Picking it up with his teeth, he brought it over to Holly.

"Thanks, Louis." She said, and flipped the book over. "Guess it must've fallen?" She muttered. The was nothing special about it, aside from a slip of paper sticking out of the top. Holly plucked it out and flipped it over, revealing another sentence.

" _Never resting, never still. Moving silently from hill to hill. It does not walk, run or trot. All is cool where it is not._ " Holly read aloud. Louis sighed and shook his head as she finished.

"Don't tell me, another riddle?" He asked. Holly swept her eyes over the paper once again, it certainly seemed that way. If Holly had to guess, she'd put her money on that they were going to have to solve quite a few of these if they wanted to face the Gym Leader. Silently praying that not all of the Gyms were like this, she turned to Violet.

"Well, you're the newly proclaimed riddle expert. Any ideas?"

"Holly, that's not how riddles work." He told her, shaking his head. "You're supposed to think about them, try and figure out their meaning, not just get the answers from someone! Where's the fun in that?"

"So in other words, you don't know the answer?" Marina teased. Violet's face flushed red and he turned up his nose at her.

"Like I said, it's not fun just knowing the answer instantly." He muttered. Holly sighed and turned back to the paper. She racked her brain but nothing seemed to come to mind. Yon-Yon gasped a moment later however and said, "All is cool where it is not, surely that's talking about sunlight right?" And again a loud thump sounded from across the room, giving them all another scare.

"Guess that was it." Holly muttered. She was beginning to like this Gym a lot less, considering she was on the verge of having a heart attack every couple of minutes. Mythril suddenly jumped up off of Yon-Yon's back and hustled over in the direction of where another book had fallen. Holly trusted Mythril's sense of hearing, and followed the little Rock Type until they reached another shelf with, what else, a book lying on the floor. Holly wasn't entirely sure how this system worked, but did what she had done last time and picked a slip out of the book. Holly could tell just by the size of the paper that it was going to be a long one.

" _A woman is sitting in her hotel room when there is a knock at the door. She opened the door to see a man whom she had never seen before. He said 'Oh I'm sorry, I have made a mistake, I thought this was my room.' He then went down the corridor and in the elevator. The woman went back into her room and phoned security. What made the woman so suspicious of the man?_ " She read. Holly was silently wondering how many of these they'd have to do if they wanted to get to the actual battle. She also wondered what the point of this was, cause it certainly wasn't proving her battling skill. Perhaps not all of Gyms focused on battle and instead specialized in trivial things such as riddles. Although if that were the case, shouldn't her first Gym had her make a bowl of soup or something? Holly had too many questions that had little to no importance for their current situation, and decided to put them out of her mind.

Holly looked around at her Pokemon, none of them seemed to have a clue. Violet was concentrating hard and muttering to himself, likely going through the different phrases of the riddle, while Yon-Yon was sitting beside Louis, looking at the paper thoughtfully. Mythril had hopped back on top of Yon-Yon and Marina was resting beside Holly's leg. After several minutes of no answers and mindless babble from Violet it became apparent, they were most definitely stuck.

Holly leaned against the bookshelf and slid her back down it, wrapping her hands around her knees. What happened if they couldn't guess the riddle? Would they be forced to leave and simply have to wait until they found someone who knew the answer? When she voiced her concern, Louis raised his head and shook it gently.

"I think they'd just have a different set of riddles fall." He said. Holly nodded, that seemed to make sense. Holly turned back to her own thoughts, but Louis seemed to be fixated on something.

"Look, Miss- I mean, Holly. I'm sorry about what happened in the forest." He began. Holly looked back at him and saw he was fixated at the floor, determinedly avoiding her gaze.

"Oh. It's fine, I just-" She replied, but Louis cut her off.

"No, no it's not fine. I shouldn't have yelled at you, it wasn't your fault. I forget you're still relatively new to this kind of life, I can't expect you to know everything about being on your own." Holly wasn't entirely sure what to say, and apparently neither was Louis for both of them remained silent for another minute or so before he spoke up again.

"You know, this isn't my first time going around Unova?" He said softly. Holly, surprised, shook her head. Louis nodded, his eyelids drooped and a faint smile seemed to light up on his face.

"Let me see, it was a while back, probably before you were even born. My trainer, Brian, was a park ranger over in Aspertia City." He recalled. "We went everywhere, from Icirrus City to Liberty Garden, if it was in Unova we saw it. I remember when this one time we went to Nimbasa City and they have this larger than life Ferris Wheel there, and our Braviary, Ashton, was actually scared of heights. Go and figure that one out."

Holly hadn't heard of a 'Braviary' before, but by Louis' tone had to guess it was a Flying Type. She smiled at him.

"But anyway, one day we got a job about some poachers mucking around in a park near Undella. Typical stuff, we had dealt with poachers plenty of times, except this time was different. These poachers were armed to the teeth" Louis' face darkened and he seemed to start talking more to himself than to Holly. "They were obviously stronger than us, _obviously_ stronger, and I told Brian that fighting them was a bad idea."

"Why didn't he listen? We lost four of ours before we managed to even subdue one of theirs, and when Callie fell I think that was when Brian snapped. He had a baton that he was permitted to carry, and he clubbed the hell out of one of the poachers." He chuckled darkly and shook his head. "Second one didn't like that though, had his Escavalier piece Brian like a skewer."

Holly looked down at Louis. She had always kinda had the sense the perhaps he had had another trainer, but not to this extent. She couldn't imagine how Louis must feel, having to live with the memory of watching all of his friends die around him, unable to help or intervene. She hoped she'd never have to go through that.

"Anyway, the point I'm getting at, is that Brian got careless. He made careless mistakes, and lost everything because he got overconfident. I don't want that to happen to you, Holly." He mumbled. Holly felt a faint smile slip across her face and reached a hand out, petting his back softly. He was just looking out for her, for all of them. Holly figured there was probably more to the story, but she didn't push it. He'd tell her in his own time. A memory popped up from a few days before hand, and Holly felt the need to bring it up.

"Hey, Louis?" She asked.

"Mm?"

"You remember in the cave, when Plasma ambushed us? You killed the Patrat that murdered Creevy?"

Louis sighed and turned back to face Holly, who could see a glazed look in his eye.

"I know what you're about to ask, and the answer is that I don't. I do not regret having to take his life. It wasn't the first time I've had to kill, and it likely won't be the last if our journey keeps going they way it is." He scoffed.

Holly frowned. She didn't want anyone dead, she just wanted to find somewhere to settle down and live a relatively normal life. Upon seeing the look on his trainer's face however, his smile returned and his voice softened.

"Come on, Holly. Let's go deal with this Gym leader and get our winnings." It was at that exact moment that a voice from beside them suddenly cried out, giving everyone another scare.

"Of course!" Violet screeched. "You wouldn't knock on your own door, that's the answer!" His smile faltered as he realized everyone, including Mythril, was shooting death glares. "Sorry." He apologized, giving them all a sheepish smile. Instead of a book falling out of a shelf like Holly had finally come to expect, the mechanical whirring of gears and sliders sounded from back towards the entrance, revealing a decently sized hole in the middle of the floor.

"Huh. Guess it wasn't a loose floorboard after all." Holly muttered as she stared into the darkness seeping out from the hole. She could faintly make out stairs, leading down into wherever the eerie hole lead to, but she wasn't going down there, and she made that clear to her Pokemon.

"I'm not going down there." She said simply.

"Yes you are." A voice called from inside beneath the floor. Nobody said anything witty or called back in reply, a mysterious voice had just called out from a secret room bathed in darkness telling them to come down inside it, what were they supposed to do? Giving each other startled and apprehensive looks, they carefully stepped down the stairs into the dark and mysterious room, where hopefully the Gym Leader awaited them and not a stranger who had snuck inside hoping to capture a trainer unaware. Suddenly lights blared from above them, like spotlights all shining down upon Holly and the others.

"Welcome, to the Nacrene Gym trainer! I am Lenora, and I..." The newly proclaimed Lenora stopped short and looked at Holly and the others, all of whom were covering their eyes and groaning in pain.

"Oh my god, why is it so bright?!" Violet cried.

"Turn it off!" Screamed Marina. Lenora rolled her eyes and dimmed the lights to a softer brightness. After making sure she hadn't gone blind, Holly regained her balance and took a wary step towards Lenora. Lenora was a fairly tall woman, with teal bushy hair that resembled a Whimsicott and dark skin. Though her eyes were reminiscent of her hair in color, they had a sharp edge and skeptical look to them that gave off the impression of being strict. This was not a woman to trifle with. A hand on her side, and a brow raised upwards, Holly had the suspicious feeling Lenora wasn't exactly fond of her.

"Well, despite what I've heard about you, I'm gonna give you a fair chance." Lenora said, proving Holly's point. Holly didn't have to ask what she meant, she already knew she was talking about the news story that had ran about her several weeks ago. Holly was amazed a stupid story like that had made it several cities over from Nuvema, especially when there was more pressing concerns the media could have focused on. Holly really didn't like her dad.

"You made it through the riddles, though. You're not some blundering girl with an attitude, at least you've got some smarts up in that head of yours." Lenora picked a ball from an apron that was slung around her back and spun it on her finger before sending it out onto the space between them. The arena itself was a lowered part of the floor made of what Holly assumed was tile over concrete. Lenora herself stood above some stairs, and had apparently been sitting in a fancy red velvet chair reading a book.

 _Wait, how was she reading if the room was in complete darkness?_ Holly's thoughts were interrupted by the growl of a Herdier from across the room; Lenora had released her first Pokemon. Without anything to stop her, Holly issued her first Pokemon forward as well: Violet. Her Purrloin stepped out onto the field, a fierce determination visible in his eyes. The Herdier pawed the floor eagerly like a Pyroar awaiting its next meal, while Violet sat patiently without moving a single muscle. _  
_

"Take down!" Lenora ordered. With speed that both Violet and Holly couldn't have seen coming, the Herider threw herself right at Violet and sent them both tumbling along the floor. Holly felt the gears and cogs in her head start to activate; it was time to get the ball rolling. Lernora's Herdier was getting back up and Holly saw a perfect opportunity for Violet to strike.

"Violet, Fury Swipes now!" Holly called. To her horror Violet was still struggling to get up, and was knocked flying by the Herdier who had all but recovered. Holly watched as her friend skidded against the floor like a discarded toy, only for him to struggle to stand back up once more. Luckily, he seemed to pull through and managed to get back on his paws, but there was something off about the way he stood. Holly didn't have time to think about it, she had to make sure he didn't get pummeled into the floor again by the oncoming Herdier.

"Sand attack, sand attack and dodge!" She ordered. Violet scooped his forepaw against the floor where there was, conveniently, a small pile of dust, and tossed it right into the Herdier's eyes as it went in for another attack. Though blinded, Lenora's Herdier wasn't done yet and slammed into an immobile Violet, once again sending him across the floor.

Marina gasped and asked, "Why didn't he move? He had just enough time!" Holly was asking the same thing. Something wasn't right, the usual agile and sneaky Purrloin was now sluggish and having trouble just trying to move out of the way.

"Holly! Holly, his back paw!" Yon-Yon said, her voice filled with alarm. Looking back to where Violet struggled to stand, Holly saw a dark slash against his hind paw; his leg was injured. Suddenly his trailing behind and limping made sense. This wasn't good, not good at all. If Violet was already at a disadvantage, mixed with his current injuries, she needed to get him out of the fight fast. A sudden tapping told her that Mythril was picking up on something, but she didn't have time to see what.

"Violet, return!" She didn't expect him to hobble back to where her and the others were, that'd just be cruel, so she tried aiming his ball and beaming him back to safety. The key word being 'tried'. Holly felt herself mash her teeth together as the Herdier skidded behind Violet and blocked the shot. Holly couldn't tell whether she had done it on purpose or not, but it didn't matter, the Herdier was readying for one last blow, and Holly couldn't retrieve him.

 _Oh no, don't let this turn into another Creevy! Please!_

Time seemed to slow to a crushing halt. There was nothing she could do, none of her Pokemon would be able to get to Violet in time, even Yon-Yon who was the fastest of the lot. Holly felt his name escape escape her lips, and heard several gasps echo from beside her. The Herdier had its teeth bared. It reared its head back. Then, a giant log smashed into its skull.

 _Wait what-_

Nope, there was no mistaking it. A plank about the size of Holly's arm had flown through the air and collided right into the Herdier. Holly hadn't seen it coming, her Pokemon hadn't seen it coming, and Lenora had definitely not seen it coming.

"What?! Where!? How?!" Lenora stuttered, her eyes practically bulging out of her skull. "I have so many questions!"

She wasn't the only one. Holly looked at her Pokemon to see if one of them had magically found a long piece of wood and tossed it with the strength of a Dragon Type, but they were all looking behind the group, towards the entrance. Holly turned as well to see someone she had honestly planned on never really seeing again, of course this could've included a number of people such as her father, her mother, the man who had helped bury Creevy, Connors and Lucy from Plasma, but the most obvious answer was Bark.

Veins bulging and looking rather bored, Bark the Timburr stood behind them with a tired look in his eyes and a white Pokemon Center wristband around his hand. His eyes flipped from Holly to Lenora, and then back again before nodding in what appeared to be understanding. Without a word he began walking forward, slowly, with all eyes zoned in on him, except for the Herdier and Violet of course.

He stopped once he reached where Holly stood, and looked up at her.

"I'm here to repay my debt. I'll be tagging in now." He said simply. Without waiting for a response he descended down the stairs and picked up his plank. Holly was left speechless.

"Hey! Is this Timburr yours?" Lenora called, eyebrow raised

"I... don't know?" Holly replied with a shrug. Lenora seemed to think Holly was messing with her, and threw her arms in the air.

"You don't kn- either it's yours or it isn't!" She yelled. "Whatever, Bertha, get rid of the Timburr, pronto!" The Herdier, who apparently was named Bertha, was back on her paws and was growling at Bark eagerly. Despite its injury, it didn't seem to be satisfied with Violet's effort and was eager for a proper fight.

"For God's sake, we aren't really going to let him fight for us, are we Holly?" Louis groaned. A sudden crack like the sound of a baseball slapping against a bat echoed throughout the room and Holly's party turned to see Bertha land in an unconscious heap fifteen feet from where she had been. Bark had landed a one-hit knock out.

"You better believe we are." Holly retorted. "Yon-Yon, can you get Violet?"

"Quicker than an arrow." Came the reply as her Blitzle dashed out onto the field. Holly would've been more than willing to run out herself, but she knew her eyes needed to concentrate on the battle. Lenora, thoroughly displeased, returned Bertha to her ball and brought out another. Eyeing her fist ball carefully, she flicked her gaze back over to Holly.

"Not many trainers make me have to take a trip to the Center on their first try. I guess we'll have to chalk it up to dumb luck though, because guess what? Type advantages don't mean a thing in my Gym." With a flick of her wrist she lobbed her ball out onto the field where it exploded into a shower of blue light and revealed her next Pokemon. Tall and upright with it's arms crossed, Holly absolutely hated it. She didn't need to know much about Pokemon to know this was an evolution of Patrat, it had the same beady eyes and judgemental look on its face that Patrats always had that made Holly either want to scream or stomp it's head in.

Bark raised an eyebrow and readied his log, but Lenora seemed ready to get him out of the way, for with a wave of hand she ordered her Watchog to use Hypnosis. Holly could almost see the rings echoing from the Watchog's eyes to Bark's, like some old-timey cartoons, and after only a few seconds of wobbling, Bark fell like a tree and crashed to the floor.

"Well, there goes our tank." Marina grumbled. Holly sighed and rubbed her hands through her hair. Typical, their saving grace would fall after a single attack. He did take out Bertha though, which was one less for them to fight, and besides, it wasn't like they were they were completely useless.

"Mythril, uh, how do you feel about..." Before Holly could even finish her sentence, Mythril was zooming towards the Watchog who seemed genuinely confused at the turn of events. Holly didn't really want to send her out, but she needed to get a read on how powerful her Roggenrola was. Mythril bounced off the ground and smacked right into the Watchog's ugly red face.

"Ow! What the hell?" It threw its hands to its face and stumbled backawards, only for Mythril to jump back up and headbutt it again. The Watchog stumbled back again and almost fell over, but steadied itself just in time. Mythril jumped again but her opponent was ready this time, and opened its jaws to an unrealistic degree, slamming its teeth down like a guillotine right into Mythril. Holly felt herself cringe as she heard the crack of teeth against solid rock. When she looked up, Watchog had its hands covering its mouth again and had knelt over in what Holly imagined could only have been extreme pain, while Lenora seemed to have grabbed her book and was slamming her own head against it repeatedly.

The Watchog looked back up just as Mythril came in for another headbutt, and took it without even trying to dodge. Only seconds after would Holly realize why, for as soon as Mythril had rammed into it, Lenora shouted with her book resting against her forehead, "Retaliate!" and watched as Mythril was thrown backwards from sheer the sheer force of the Watchog's attack. The little Roggenrola didn't stay down long, and was back on its feet seconds after it had landed, but Holly ordered her back anyway. She didn't want Mythril to overexert herself.

Lenora chuckled and tapped a finger against her temple. "You know, she may not be the brightest, but my Watchog is no pushover. You're lucky your little rock didn't get the full taste of the attack, if I had used it earlier, it might have done some mortal damage. Oh well, send out your next 'mon."

Holly had already decided on who to send out next, and motioned for Louis to take the field. When Holly turned back however, she saw the Bark appeared to have woken up and was leaning on his log. Louis rolled his eyes and sat back down grumbling to himself, while Holly stood and watched as both Lenora and the Watchog turned to face Bark. She wasn't entirely sure what to do, since Bark wasn't technically her Pokemon could she even give him commands? Should she give him commands? Did he even need them?

Bark yawned and smacked his lips, gazing sleepily at his new opponent who seemed to be a little bit nervous at this change in cast. Holly couldn't blame her. Lenora swapped glances with the Watchog and snapped her fingers, pointing them at Bark. The Watchog nodded and began making its way towards the seemingly bored Timburr. Bark sighed and swung his plank around, nearly taking off the Watchog's head. She ducked just in time, and widened her eyes as she attempted to use Hypnotize again. Holly groaned and readied for Bark to fall over again, but he didn't to both her surprise and the Watchog's.

"Missed." He muttered, before slamming the giant log over the Watchog's head. Holly winced as the Watchog fell in slow motion, like a tower of building blocks slowly tumbling over until it finally crashed to the ground, defeated. Holly could not believe it. None of her Pokemon could either. All of them stared, mouths gaped, at Lenora who was looking rather aggravated at the very thought of having to admit defeat. Finally after several moments of dramatic silence, she raised her arms in a shrug, revealing she had no more Pokemon to send out.

Holly blinked. Then she blinked again. She had won her second Gym battle. Putting her hands to her knees for support, Holly let out a sigh of relief that followed several others from behind her. They had won, they had made it through. After several seconds of silent resting, Holly and her Pokemon walked over to where Lenora was waiting with a small bag in her hands. Holly wasn't expecting it to be thrown at her and barely caught it, opening it to reveal a Basic Badge, a fair amount of cash, and a disc that Holly assumed was a TM.

"Congratulations, you won. Should probably go to the Center and get your Purrloin some help, he don't look too good." Lenora said. Holly looked back at Violet who was slumped over Yon-Yon's back and had to agree, he didn't look too good at all.

"Also, get your Timburr out of here. Pronto." Holly could tell her presence was becoming more and more of nuisance, so she thanked Lenora for the battle, turned around, and left as quickly as possible. She passed by Hawes in the library who gave her a thumbs up and a friendly wave, which she returned. The main hall was empty except for the workers from the Department of the Unovan Mythology Branch, who were all handing around the Dragon fossil. Holly waved to one of them, and received a wave back, but all of the other members turned and stared at her, silent, unmoving. Weird. Holly gave a nervous laugh and left the museum, opening the doors to reveal the windy outside world that she had left behind.

* * *

Their walk to the Pokemon Center was uneventful, except for when Louis pointed out that Bark was following them. He didn't say anything, nor pay them any mind, but none the less was always within ten feet of them. When they arrived at the Center, Holly had her Pokemon taken by a nurse who made sure to chew her out for letting her Pokemon get such a condition.

After causing a scene by yelling about how today's youth were so careless and nearly making Holly burst into tears, the nurse took them into the back. Now on her own, Holly decided to go back outside so as to avoid the stares being shot at her from the many eyes in the center, not to mention she wanted to talk to their little follower. Bark was standing against the doorway of the Center, log in hand, ignoring almost everyone who passed by. He didn't even look at Holly until she was standing across from him, and even then he made it a point to avoid eye contact.

"Hello." Holly said weakly. He didn't reply. Not exactly a promising start, but Holly decided to pursue on.

"I'm Holly. You're Bark, right?" Nothing.

"You said, earlier, that you were repaying your debt, what exactly did you mean?" She questioned. Bark glanced at her, this seemed to be within his interest enough to give a reply.

He jerked his head towards the Center and said, "Nurse told me you brought me in, said you were going to the Gym. You saved me from death, probably, so I came to repay the favor."

Holly sniffed and wiped some of the tears she had almost shed out of her eyes. She told him that they had brought him to the Center in return for saving Violet's, the Purrloin's, life. Bark raised a brow and shifted his weight onto the log.

"Right place, right time. I wasn't trying to pull heroics, you just served as a good distraction for my attack." He said bluntly. Holly felt a shed of disappointment at this, but tried to shrug it off.

"Look, just getting this out, I'm not your friend or whatever. I'm just hanging around to pay you back. After sunset, I'm leaving. Capiche?" He checked. Holly was stung by his coldness, but she had learned long ago that not everyone was your friend. In fact more often than not nobody was your friend. Holly had learned this the hard way growing up.

"Alright, fun. Well you just stay here, I have a bit of last minute shopping to do." She said, turning heel and walking the other direction. He gave no indication that he heard her other than a brief nod, leaving Holly to go back towards the row of buildings. She knew that she had at least a good ten to fifteen minutes, and took her time as she walked into into the warehouse, enjoying the sights and sounds of Nacrene.

When Holly returned, the others were all healed up and ready to be checked out. Quick to grab her Pokemon and get as far away from the judgemental eyes of the nurse as possible, Holly left the Center swiftly with a new bag under her arm. After releasing her Pokemon (and having Bark follow behind) from their balls, she knew it was only a matter of time before their curiosity got the better of them, and she was right.

"Whatcha' got Holly?" Marina asked from her usual resting place inside of Holly's beanie. Louis padded up next to her and sniffed the bag suspiciously, but Holly removed all suspicion when she opened the plastic bag to reveal... another bag. Two bags strapped together actually.

"Tada! Saddle bags!" Holly triumphantly stated, holding them up for everyone to see. They didn't seem to share her enthusiasm, so Holly had to explain how useful they would be along their journey. Sirens blared in the distance, but Holly ignored them. Just another sound of bigger cities.

"See, I was thinking Yon-Yon," She indicated towards the Blitzle with a hand, "could wear them so that way if she found anything useful like some berries, she'd be able to store them somewhere safe. I'm running out of room in my satchel as it is. I also got some needle and thread, in case we something rips." She patted her bag, which now held their food, meager supplies, and extreme amount of purple cloth. Her two TM's, badges, and winnings, were in her pockets in both her jacket and jeans, scattered about.

"I don't mind, I'm not as weak as I appear." Yon-Yon said with a smile.

"Aye, quite the contrary, I'd say you're stronger than you give yourself credit for." Louis noted, causing her to go red in the muzzle. Holly snickered and helped set the saddle bags up, but when she opened one of them up, she noticed something was already in it. Picking it up by the string it was attached to, Holly held it up to the sun for a better perspective. The small teardrop shaped gem shone in the late afternoon sun like a diamond among rubble, so much so that Holly couldn't be help but be mesmerized by it. As she showed it to the others, Louis stepped closer to get a better look at it, and recognition flashed through his eyes.

"Why that's a Mystic Water. Our Carracosta had one, wore it like a champ he did. It powers the flow of water in Water-Types if I remember correctly, but I could be wrong." He noted. Holly pouted a little, unable to help feeling slightly disappointed; she had kind of been planning on wearing itself. Forcing herself to shake the feeling away, she tied the little necklace around Marina's neck who seemed absolutely overjoyed. She gave her Oshawott a hug, and continued walking down the street with a new spring in her step. Life was good, a lot better than she had thought it would be. When she had first ran away she had no idea what she'd be in for, imagining having to camp out in the woods, trying to scavenge for food and fighting off the incoming wave of freezing air and rain.

This was different though. She had friends, food, a place to sleep at night, and for the first time in her life her own money. It was a special feeling, even though it wasn't the coziest life, it was something, and sometimes it was even better than the life she had left behind. She looked at the family she had started, from the fatherly figure of Louis to the younger siblings of Mythril and Violet, it was something she had begun to cherish and appreciate more and more. She was beginning to feel empowered, fighting the Gym Leader and coming out relatively unscathed seemed to have this kind of effect, and even though she had no idea where she was going, it was all okay. Because she had her family to back her up no matter where they went, and that was truly the only thing that mattered to Holly from this point.

The walk back to the warehouse was quiet, with the only sound being the voices of those they passed and the soothing melody of a musician strumming his guitar. They actually ended up passing the musician, who was sitting against a warehouse wall, and stopped to listen. The song itself was relaxing but fierce at the same time, peaceful yet containing a battle cry in its very soul. As Holly listened, she found herself bobbing her head to the nonexistent beat and after internally battling with herself, pulled her bag of winnings out of her pocket, dropping several hundred Poke into guitar case at her feet. Holly could not see the musicians eyes which were covered by the bill of his hat, but she saw him grin and bow his head. After continuing on her way, Holly herself smiled.

It was little moments like that, that she loved most of all. Just a simple interaction, nothing more and nothing less, that could never be tainted. It was a memory now, something she could have that would be with her forever. She supposed it might have sounded silly aloud, like a lot of things she did, but the point remained that she now had a happy memory with a complete stranger, and nothing could change it. She thought of this as she walked up to the warehouse where they were staring, as she waved to the kindly owner, and as she passed a few other people on the way to her own cot.

The afternoon seemed to have flown by as early evening settled in, with mixtures of lavender and zaffre to paint the sky. Holly felt the lull of sleep call to her, and was eager to get a small nap in as she laid down in her only slightly uncomfortable cot. She asked Marina to wake her up in an hour before rolling her pillow over her head and promptly falling asleep.

* * *

It was barely a half an hour later when Holly was woken from her warm and serene dream, which had all but left her when her eyes opened. Faded images of Anville Town drifted from her mind as her vision fazed back into reality, and she saw the worried and anxious faces of her Pokemon crowded around her.

"Whazzit?" She mumbled, swinging her head up and revealing her bedhead. Her hair was the least of her problems though for as she followed Yon-Yon's gaze towards the entrance, a sight that didn't make any sense whatsoever was playing out. There was a strange man talking to the warehouse owner, showing him something, who seemed to be pointing right at Holly. The man nodded and was walking right towards her. Weird. His footsteps were the only sound in the entire building, echoing throughout the warehouse like gunfire. Holly looked right at him as he stepped up to her cot, crouching down to where they were eye to eye. He was extremely handsome.

"Hello, Miss McConall." He said. His voice was very relaxed and businesslike, which suited his formal attire. "I'm an investigator for the region of Unova and I'm here to take you in for questioning about the recent theft at the museum. Do you understand?"

"I-I'm sorry, what?" Holly asked. Something wasn't right. Was this man joking? He wasn't a very good comedian.

"You were reported to be fleeing the scene of the crime, and we have several witnesses claiming you were seen holding the stolen object in question." His eyes gave away no emotion, boring into Holly like drills. Holly watched as he reached into his vest and pulled out a pair of hand cuffs, holding them out in front of Holly like a judge holding his gavel, ready to deliver the sentence. Holly looked at the cuffs, and then at the man who's stormy grey eyes betrayed nothing from his steadfast face, and felt her fear rise into her chest, choking her.

"I'm going to have to ask you to turn around, please." That was the moment where everything seemed to break. Holly couldn't go to jail, her Pokemon would either be released into the wild or put down, she herself would be forced to spend a number of days locked up, only to be freed and sent to some foster home or something, and she would not, could not, accept that reality. She could not run, he was already reaching forward to turn her around, she had to stop him fast. So Holly reared her fist back and slammed it against his face, smashing into his cheek and sending him toppling over the cot behind him. Gasps erupted from both her Pokemon and the other few occupants of the warehouse, but that did not matter. She barked an order for her Pokemon to follow her and made a mad dash for the exit.

She didn't look back, not even once. There were no officers to stop her outside, something that if she had stopped to think about might have puzzled her, but there was no time for deep thinking, only running. Her feet slapped against the pavement as her chest heaved, cold hair stinging her face as she ran. Her Pokemon were right beside her, and a quick thought sprang across her mind as they ran. She reached into her pockets, pulling out each individual ball for her Pokemon. One by one she returned them to their capsules, preventing anyone from getting left behind. She was met with no resistance from her comrades. Bark, who was breathing just as hard behind her, was not her Pokemon and therefore had no ball. Holly simply hoped he could keep up as she passed several confused onlookers who were out for an evening stroll, but they did not matter. What mattered was her getting as far away from Nacrene as possible.

Holly saw two people come into vision dead ahead of her, both looking more and more familiar as she approached them. She had no time to move out of the way, and resorted to pushing the darker haired one out of her way and inadvertently onto the ground. The bemused expression from Cheren's face sent a shiver of satisfaction down Holly's spine, but she had no time to enjoy it or say hello to an equally bemused Bianca, she had to run.

Holly did not stop running until she reached the forest's edge, stopping only to take a short break. The break was short lived, for the man, Bianca, and Cheren were all coming straight towards her. Silently cursing she hopped into the woods, Bark right at her side. Then she continued running, feet against grass, face against wind, it was all insignificant. Blood was pounding in her ears, the sights and sounds around her didn't make sense. Nothing did. The trees and darkening sky and occasional Pokemon, all of them, insignificant. None of it mattered, not the fact that she had punched a cop, not the fact she had pushed Cheren, nothing held an ounce of importance to her. The only thing that did was the fact that she was running, because she was on the run from the law, again. Yet again, she was running, with no clear idea why, and that was all that mattered.

* * *

 **A.N: Hey guys, thanks for reading. Important question: Do you feel as though the earlier chapters were better to read? I feel as though my style has changed, and I'd like to know if you prefer the feel of the story now or how it was in the beginning. Please leave a review, it helps during the times when I worry that nobody likes this story. Have a great day everyone!**


	9. Chapter 9: Force Your Way

**Chapter 9: Force your way**

 _"We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination_ _than from reality." -_ Lucius Annaeus Seneca

* * *

The day had long since settled down and let the night take up its shift, for the moon had risen high and any noise had died down completely, leaving the night to its natural uneasiness. There was no light but that of the moon faintly shining down onto the ground below like an age old spotlight, but the clusters of trees over Holly's head shielded her from having any sort of visibility. This was a shame because of the countless thicket bushes along with various dips and bumps constantly causing her some inconvenience or another, she really could've used some sort of light.

Her adrenaline had all but disappeared by this point, and was now reduced to dragging her feet along the forest floor which had been covered in dead pine needles. Her mouth hung agape, a by-product of being hopelessly exhausted and just hopeless in general. Despite her sluggish movements, her mind was in full motion like a video cassette being fast forwarded. Or was it actually slower than she was? She couldn't tell, sometimes the memories were like bullets, seconds later they'd be single frames going by like a low budget cartoon.

Her feet slowed to a halt, leaving her standing in the middle of a forest with a deathly silence hanging over her. The only sound was the harsh wind brushing through the pines surrounding her. Was she safe? Could she stop stumbling along this pine riddled forest finally and take a break? Even her heartbeat seemed soft and quiet despite the fact that it was still beating like a drum in her chest.

"I don't think we're being followed anymore." A voice muttered behind her. Holly jumped as though someone had fired a gun at her; she had forgotten Bark had been following her this whole time. The Timburr had remained quiet, trailing behind Holly as they hopped over logs and ducked beneath branches all while trying to escape from their pursuers. Now however he was staring Holly down, eyebrows furrowed, and a glint of vexation fixed in his eyes. Their eyes met, and Bark slammed his wooden beam into the ground with a large crash.

"I don't suppose you really thought about how any of this affects me, did you?" He asked while grinding his teeth together. Holly didn't know what he was really talking about, and to be blunt she didn't care all that much, so she shook her head and let him continue on.

"You know, you could have told me you were some sort of criminal before I started risking my neck for you! Now not only am I exiled from my clan, but now I'm associated as an accomplice of a criminal being hunted down by police! Where am I supposed to go now, huh?" He shouted, kicking up a fair amount of mud and leaves in his rage. Holly blinked, and then again, and then once more before she answered.

"I don't know." She muttered before turning back around and continuing to stumble between the trees. His problem seemed so insignificant at the moment that she couldn't bring herself to give a single care to it. Not one. As her feet slumped against the pine needles she heard him still complaining behind her and she felt a strong urge to turn and give him a good kick upside the head, something she would later be glad she didn't do. Another few minutes of memories swirling in her head and pine needles crunching under her feet lead to what she didn't even know she was looking for: a fallen tree.

The large pine had likely fallen in the recent weather and had left a giant crater where its roots once laid dormant, now it provided the perfect make-shift shelter for Holly to finally stop and rest for the night. Without a word, she stepped down into the hole, away from the freezing wind, and stuck herself right in the cranny of where the trees roots hung line an overhang and where the ground met.

"You know if that tree snaps and all the pressure shifts towards the base, it'll swing up and crush you, right?" Bark asked. Holly's eyes were already closed and all she could emit was a soft shushing sound. Bark snorted and turned the other direction, muttering "Whatever." under his breath. Holly didn't hear him leave, for she was already asleep as the wind dulled to a quiet lull, and the nothingness seemed to wrap around her like a wave of rushing water. Rushing water that was gently brushing against her fingers.

She was running her hand through a riverbank, and someone put their hand against her head and asked if she wanted some more tea and honey. She pulled the covers further up to her neck to block out the wind as she ran along the beach, the sound of other children laughing around her while she reached out to touch her friend's coat. But it didn't matter if she did or not, because her mother was handing her her tea and it seemed incredibly important that she drink it. As she went to grasp it however, she fumbled and sent the tea flying into the air, both her and her mother watching as it came crashing down on her face.

The crashing itself was loud, as the cup shattered into hundreds of pieces and the tea splashed across her face, Holly was surprised to feel that the tea was actually rather cold. She was about to complain to her mother about this fact, but her mother was too preoccupied with shaking her and calling her name, "Holly. Holly!"

"Holly!" Yon-Yon called. Holly's eyes blinked open, only to close them again as water splashed into them and all around her; it was raining again. Shielding herself with her hand, she looked around at the group of Pokemon standing over her with varying looks of concern on their faces. It took a few seconds for Holly to stand, due to the fact that her entire body ached from sleeping in a cramped hole and the mud she was lying in was incredibly slippery. She leaned upon Yon-Yon and groaned as she popped her back. It had been a rough night.

"You alright, lass?" Louis asked. Holly shook her head, there was nothing really alright with her at the moment, everything seemed a whole lot more depressing and bleak. She raised her hands and gripped the edge of the hole they were in and attempted to push herself out. Holly wasn't exactly known for her strength, and found that lifting herself was a bit more difficult than she had planned. Just as she had propped her knee against the ledge, the ground she was gripping gave out and sent her skidding down into the hole again. The fall was by no means long, but it did dirty her up a lot more, not to mention lower her spirits.

"Would you like us to help you up?" Yon-Yon asked over the rain. Holly let out a sigh a nodded, reluctantly letting her Blitzle and Herdier act as support steps as she clambered out of the hole. The rest of her Pokemon had little to no trouble getting out, aside from Mythril who needed to be carried by Yon-Yon. Once they were all out Holly noticed that they seemed to be one short. There was Marina, Louis, Violet (who seemed less than happy with the fact that they were just standing in the rain), Mythril, and Yon-Yon. So who were they missing? The later events from the night before seemed to all come crashing back to her in an instant.

"Bark..." She groaned. She didn't mean to shrug him off, it had just been such a rough night that his problem seemed to pale in comparison. Now she just felt like a jerk, which wasn't new. She looked around for some sign of him, but the rain had long since washed away any tracks much to her dismay. She supposed she could've asked Bark to try and sniff him out, but again the rain likely would've washed any scent away. Registering this as a lost cause, it was here Holly realized that she hadn't the faintest clue where they were. The others seemed to realize this as Violet asked, "So where do we go now?"

"Um, that's..." Holly turned all the way around, only confusing her even more as to their intended direction, "... a really good question." Everything looked more or less looked the same to her. Trees, trees, trees, a hill with trees, more trees, and just for some variety: trees. It was hopeless, there was no way to tell which direction she had originally came in, which left them with only one option.

"Violet, we're going to have to throw you really high up into the sky and hope you see a skyline somewhere." Holly said aloud.

"W-what?!" Violet stammered, taking a step back from her. Holly shook her head, indicating she was just joking.

"Just messing with you Violet, but that does give me an idea." She blocked the rain out of her eyes and peered up at the towering pine trees that stood firm against the wind and rain. "Maybe we could have you climb up one of those, see if you can spot anything?" She proposed.

"Perhaps we should wait until the storm dies down a little first?" Yon-Yon suggested. "He's likely to slip and fall in all this." Holly nodded just as a bolt of lighting struck somewhere, emitting a booming crash not far off from where they stood. Everyone jumped and Holly felt her heart race like a bullet; she really hated loud noises.

"We can't stay here though, we need to find some kind of shelter, and pronto." Louis argued, eyeing the hole where Holly had slept the night before. "Somewhere a bit... safer."

There was no disagreements to be had, and soon without another word they were all trudging through the mud and rain. The storm had grown even stronger and the raindrops had begun to increase in velocity, slowly turning into little needles that pelted against them and blinded their vision. Holly held her arm up to shield her eyes, but it did little to help with tiny droplets still stinging against her face. She turned briefly to look at the others trailing behind her, slowly taking step after step to try and keep up with their trainer. Louis was right showing no signs of wear, while Mythril was taking refuge behind Yon-Yon's neck, both Marina and Violet were being pushed back by the wind every few steps, causing them to be several steps behind the group.

Fifteen minutes later and the storm showed no signs of easing up. Holly was soaked from her beanie to her bag, and could feel her feet slip in and out of the growing water puddles that had accumulated on the forest floor. Traversing any farther was proving to be a near impossible task, and Holly knew they had to call it quits and find shelter immediately. Her team wasn't looking too good, and she mirrored their condition. She stopped and searched high and low for something that could protect them from the storm, and at last her eyes landed on a long hollow long to their right.

"Guys, come on!" Holly called back, and one by one they plowed through until they reached the hollow log, except with one new factor set against them; the log sat above a creek that was some twenty feet below with churning with rapids.

"I'm... not so sure about this." Yon-Yon admitted. "Really, surely there must be somewhere else we could take refuge?"

"By Arceus, if we stay out here much longer we'll all be Water-Types!" Louis argued. "It's here or nowhere!" Holly hated to say it, but he was right, there really wasn't anywhere else that would suffice.

"Is it at least sturdy?" Yon-Yon asked.

"I wouldn't bet on it." Violet murmured, peeking over Marina to get a look at it. Louis scoffed and strode into the log, sitting down comfortably near the other end.

"Ye of little faith!" He called back chuckling. Yon-Yon hesitated and was mumbling under her breath, something about being "too heavy" before walking in after him. One by one they filed in until only Holly remained, peering inside while they waited anxiously for her. She reasoned that altogether her Pokemon weighed about as much as an average teenager, she just wasn't sure if her added weight would make it collapse. She gingerly eased into the wooden tube and sat herself beside Marina. The log was big enough to where even Holly only had to crouch to walk through it, but its width left more to be desired as Holly had to scrunch up with her knees nearly smashing against her face. It wasn't the most comfortable, but it was preferable to laying under an uprooted tree.

Everyone must have had something on their mind, Holly figured, because nobody spoke a word. The rain likely would have drowned out their chatter anyway, so it made sense for all of them to sit back and take a moment to breathe and think over the last twenty-four hours without any sort of vocal interruption. Just the sound of the water tapping against their wooden cover was enough to wash the mind away to a serene place where the only real sound was that of your own inner aspirations.

"So, are we gonna tell her or wha-" Violet asked before being interrupted by a smack from Marina. Holly sighed and stopped looking at the trees, turning over to look at the others beside her.

 _So much for peace and quiet_ , Holly thought, gazing at the worried looks they were giving her. Holly realized she'd been getting those a lot lately, though it made sense considering the circumstances that had befallen.

"What is it?" She mumbled. Yon-Yon scooted forward and spoke in a quiet tone that told Holly she was choosing her words carefully, something that made Holly uneasy.

"Well, some of us talked while you were asleep, and felt that maybe- because we know you planned on going onto the next Gym- it would be a better if we, you know, didn't do that." She suggested. Holly didn't quite understand her, and turned to Violet who looked like wanted to explain it.

"Look, Holly, I know you and Pops had the plan of going from Gym to Gym, but that's not going to cut it anymore." Violet started.

"I don't see why not! Me and Brian went and fought almost every Gym in this region!" Louis piped up from the back of the log.

"You and Brian weren't wanted for stealing a regional artifact, now were you?" Violet called back. Louis grumbled, but said nothing. "Anyway," Violet continued, "I may not be as old and wise as Pops, but I've been living in the wild most of my life. It'd be a lot easier than ducking through alleys trying to avoid being seen every hour of every day."

Holly thought about the possibility of what they were implying: living out in the wild with only you and your wits to protect you from anything and everything. She supposed that wasn't too far from what they had been doing really, fending for themselves under the trees and holding their own? But a voice in the back of her head reminded her that there had always been a back-up plan. There was always a town fairly close by where, in the worst-case scenario, they could camp out under an awning or some abandoned building somewhere. There was always a notion that no matter what, there was safety a reasonable distance away, where the terrifying yet comforting presence of other people lay just within reach. Out there, that was simply non-existent.

She looked to Louis for guidance, he did have more experience than she did after all, and he looked as though he too was internally debating on the matter. After a second, he spoke.

"I suppose with the circumstances, it might be a reasonable idea. We'd still have to be careful though, and plan out a strategy just in case of..." He trailed off, mumbling to himself while Violet shot a smug grin at Marina and said, "Told you it'd work." Marina rolled her eyes and fiddled with her Mystic Water while Violet gave a self-satisfied dance that Holly and Yon-Yon were forced to sit through. Holly couldn't tell if Mythril was paying attention or not, she was just in own little world, hopping up and down on Yon-Yon's back.

The rain had slowed down considerably after a few minutes, and Holly saw this as the perfect opportunity for Violet to get them a bird's-eye view of where they were. Holly walked with the others to the tallest tree they could find, which was luckily just a short distance from the log in a short clearing, and helped Violet up it. Hesitant as he was, they eventually managed to convince him with the promise of food when he returned, and with a lift from Holly, eventually began his way from branch to branch.

"Oh, I hope he doesn't fall." Yon-Yon muttered. Holly shared her worry, she was pretty sure that if he did fall, he was pretty much a goner. A sudden tapping sound caught their attention, and everyone turned to see Mythril tapping away on Yon-Yon's back.

"Aw, Mythril's worried too." Holly pointed out. The tiny little rock had hopped onto the grass and was bouncing up and down as usual, except she wasn't facing the tree, rather her orifice was facing right beside the tree. Marina noticed this, and tilted her head.

"I don't think that's what she's worried about." She told the others. Holly and Yon-Yon turned to look behind the tree, and saw several figures moving around in the distance. Holly barely had time to react before Yon-Yon and Louis pulled her down into the bushes. Thickets and thorns scraped against her as she was dragged down, and Holly forced herself not to cry out in fear of being caught. As they settled into the copse, Holly saw that she was not the only one who had fallen victim to their haste, both Marina and Yon-Yon had scratches along their bodies while tufts of brown fur from Louis could be seen caught in the barbs. Nobody said a word, panic streaked across their faces as they listened to the footsteps approaching them, like a countdown slowly ticking away with each footstep another second towards their doom. Holly heard Yon-Yon gasp beside her, and followed her eyes to where a blue rock lay on the ground, unmoving. Holly groaned internally as she realized that along with flinging themselves into thorns in their haste, they had also left Mythril in the clearing.

"Oh shit." Holly whispered. There was no time for disapproving glares, the strangers were closing in. These were no ordinary forest-trail hikers either, for Holly could see as they entered the clearing that they were separated into two groups: those wearing Plasma uniforms and those wearing navy coveralls. As they edged closer Holly began to pick up their conversation.

"... don't know why you slept in it, Vetch." A girl in a Plasma uniform said. One of the workers in coveralls, a female, hurried behind her and replied with, "I don't know, I just like them! They're not nearly as itchy as you said, though I could use without the big letters spelling out D.U.M.B. on the back."

"Seriously, remind me to call Lucy about that. Whoever's in charge of uniforms needs to be poison stung. In the crotch." A guy with shaggy brown laughed.

"Deparment of Unovan Mythology Branch." The first one said as she shook her head. "Bet whoever thought that one up is having a good laugh, probably sitting back at HQ with their feet kicked back, having a coffee." The four of them unloaded their backpacks down onto the ground and sat in a circle, reaching into their bags and pulling out tupperware and plastic utensils. Holly could just make out the red-and-white capsules attached to their bags; they didn't come out here alone. The one in coveralls had managed to start a fire which burned a question into Holly's mind: just how long were they going to camp out here?

"Hey, easy Travis!" One of them yelled. The one from Plasma with shaggy hair called Travis had knocked over one of their bags, much to the displeasure of everyone else. They quickly scrambled over to where the bag lay and checked inside of it. Whatever its contents were, they seemed to be fine for the group let out a sigh of relief and propped the bag up against the tree as a precaution, and turned on Travis.

"What would you have done if you had damaged the skull of an ancient dragon?!" The girl in the Plasma uniform, who Holly could see was ginger, screeched. Travis, who was rubbing his knee, frowned and rolled his eyes.

"If it's so valuable, why are we sitting out here in the woods with it, instead of taking it back to HQ?" He shot. The girl in the coveralls held a finger up and spoke as though she were reciting something, her voice sounding oddly familiar to Holly.

"Our job," She began, "is to infiltrate the Nacrene Museum dressed in the provided guises under the aliases of members from the Deparment of Unovan Mythology Branch. Once there we are to wait until a Gym Battle takes place to procure the skull, and make our getaway saying we are relocating it to confirm its historic identity. Once secured, we are to rendezvous at the predetermined spot in the Pinwheel Forest where Sage Gorm will meet us at twelve-hundred hours, to avoid any public confrontations." She stated.

"Thanks Vetch. Guess it helps that the cops think that kid stole it, huh?" Travis asked. The others snickered, except for the girl named Vetch who frowned at the others.

"I feel bad for her, truly. She doesn't seem that bad you know, when I saw her she was smiling and talking to her Pokemon." Holly suddenly realized where she had seen Vetch, she had been the one speaking to the kids at the shelter in Nacrene. With frothy black hair and large square glasses, she was fairly easy to pick out from her memory. Travis gave a hollow laugh and motioned towards Vetch.

"Don't suppose you heard what Connors was saying the other day? His Patrat, gone. Brat had her Pokemon snap its neck, just like that. Sure, we pinned a heist on a teenager but I mean, c'mon, to murder a Pokemon just like that without even thinking about it? Pinning the blame on her was a freebie." He said bluntly. Vetch didn't seem convinced, but Travis wasn't paying attention to her anymore, and was now more focused on the bag he had tripped over. The ginger, now seeming thoroughly aggravated, groaned and massaged her temples.

"What are you doing now, Travis?" She asked. Travis turned and muttered, "Well I want to get a look at the thing we just risked our lives stealing, don't you?" The ginger girl looked like she wanted to argue, but something stopped her for she just rolled her eyes and turned the other way. Vetch and the other member in coveralls looked eagerly over at the bag as Travis pulled it over to the group and slowly pulled something large and white from out of the sack, the skull of a once ferocious dragon now long gone.

"To think, we'll be the first to see the dragon before it even comes back." Vetch murmured. After enough suspense, Travis lifted the skull into plain view for everyone to see. With a large round snout and a single spike jutting out from the top of its head, it looked rather intimidating indeed. The ginger Plasma member however, didn't seem nearly as mesmerized as everyone else.

"What the hell is that?" She barked, and everyone turned and looked at her.

"What do you mean 'What the hell is that'?" Travis asked. The ginger looked ready to tear her hair out and jabbed a finger at the skull.

"I mean what the hell is _that_!" She screeched. Vetch and Travis looked at each other, quite confused, but the ginger seemed positively fed up and once again pointed at the skull.

"This is a Dragonite skull, Travis!" She fumed. Travis didn't seem particularly moved by this revelation and just raised an eyebrow, while Vetch's mouth dropped like a cinder-block, and her whole body began to shake. She seemed to understand.

"So what? Honestly, who cares what species it is so long as its the ancient dragon?" He asked.

"Dragonite are Kantonian you idiot, the ancient dragon of _Unova_ would be _Unovan_ don't you think?!" Her voice echoed through the tree, and any of the Pokemon chattering in the forest became deathly silent. Travis' mouth gaped and he too seemed to finally realized what this meant. All four of them simultaneously began freaking out, with Vetch sitting against the tree and rocking slowly, her breathing becoming short and irregular. Holly realized she was having a panic attack, recognizing the signs from when she herself had had them. A pang of sympathy shot through Holly. She didn't envy Vetch.

"We're dead, we're so dead." The fourth guy muttered. Travis was pacing back and forth with his head in his hands, until he tripped over a small rock sitting in the grass and landed face-first into the mud. Holly winced; that wasn't an ordinary rock. Rubbing his mud smeared face, Travis regained his composure and quickly turned to the rock, a growl rising in his throat.

"Dammit!" He yelled, rearing his foot back and giving it a punt so hard that it soared through the air and knocked into a tree, ricocheting into the mud with a dull thud. Mythril didn't get up. Holly wasn't too sure what happened next, she knew that her skin had really started to hurt, the others were calling her name, and that she had somehow ended up on top of Travis. It later occurred to her that she might have dashed out of the thorns without hesitation, which would explain the blood oozing from her dozens of scratches.

 _Well that went well_ , the voice in her head muttered, _but where exactly do we go from here?_ Well I have claws, I could use those. _You have fingernails._ Yeah, those, whatever.

"Get off!" Travis shouted, managing to push Holly off of him, but not before she dragged her fingernails down the front of his face. As Holly was thrown to the ground, she heard the sound of capsules opening and releasing their innards. Several Pokemon surrounded Holly, only recognizing two out of the lot: a Liepard and a Watchog. There was also small tan Pokemon with big black eyes and teeth that reminded her of those spikes police officers used in high-speed chases. The ginger girl was barking orders at the others, but only Travis and the other male were listening; Vetch was pressed up against a tree looking like she was about to vomit. Holly didn't have time to worry about her though, for the Pokemon were closing in.

"... don't give a damn! Leave the girl, we've got bigger things to worry about you idiot!" The ginger seethed. Travis flipped her a rude hand gesture, covering his face up with his other hand, and motioned for his Liepard to go ahead and take on Holly.

"Claw her face up real good, Capri. I better see some blood." He ordered. The Liepard licked its lips and began to stalk towards Holly, one paw at a time.

"With pleasure, sir." The Liepard whispered as it edged closer and closer towards its target. Holly felt her feet take a step back and her heart rise to her throat. She really hadn't though this through, and now she was probably going to pay the price. She was glad she was pumped up with adrenaline at the moment, otherwise she figured she probably would've started bawling by now.

Capri the Liepard was licking his maw, and had crouched down with his forepaws. Holly stiffened; he was about to pounce! She needed to move, but it was far too late for the other two Pokemon was closing on her just as fast, and the Liepard was suddenly in the air, claws outstretched...

It was like a scene out of a movie, Louis rushing in and ramming into the Liepard with such force that they both tumbled out of sight in a flurry of claws and teeth. Marina had zoomed past her and had begun to tussle with the tan Pokemon while Yon-Yon was lashing out sparks at the Watchog. Her Pokemon had come to the rescue again. Travis pushed the ginger off of him looking absolutely livid, she had been trying to pull him away from the battle, and grabbed a thick tree branch from off the ground. He wasn't seriously going to try and beat her with a branch was he?

"Get over here!" He roared, brandishing the branch as though he was knight waving his sword. Had the circumstances been different Holly would have more than likely burst out laughing at how he looked, but she knew better, it'd only take a swing or two from that thing to put her out of commission. The screeches of Pokemon circled around them, Holly saw the Watchog get a nice hoof to the face but Louis take a nasty bite to the hindpaw, but she had to focus on getting past Sir Asshole McYellsalot if she wanted to get Mythril. A certain screeching rose above the rest, in quite a literal sense as Holly and Travis both looked up to see a blur of purple plummeted from above them. Holly recognized what was happening a second before it happened, and just as she predicted, her Purrloin landed claws first on top of Travis, barely missing his face.

 _Thank you, Violet Ex Machina,_ She thought to herself as she ran past them. Mythril hadn't moved from her where she had landed, and Holly had a sneaking suspicion that she had been rendered unconscious. With no way of being able to tell, she carefully picked the Rock Type up and placed her as gently as she could inside her bag, promising to make sure nothing else happened to her. She turned back to the onsuing battle, but things seemed to be taking a turn for the worse. Louis was struggling to get the Liepard off of his hind leg, and Marina was barely keeping the jaws of the Pokemon from snapping at her. She was a trainer, she needed to act like one.

"Louis, go for his tail! Marina use water gun when it opens its mouth!" Holly shouted. Much to her surprise, this worked rather well and tipped the balance back in their favor. Holly made to run over and, well, do something important (she wasn't sure yet, everything was moving far too fast for her) but she felt something grip her ankle, sending her face first into the ground. She raised her head and looked behind her to see that Travis had thrown off Violet and was trying to pull Holly towards him, fury blazing in his eyes. Fear gripped at Holly and in a surge of panic she reached for the branch and and bashed it as hard as she could against his face.

Blood burst from under the log like a tiny balloon as it came into contact with the middle of his face; she had broken his nose. Holly scooted away from him as fast as she could, standing up and doing her best to catch her breath while the others continued to fight. Too much was happening in too short a span of time, she had to stop or else something horrible would happen, at least that's what her brain told her. Across from her, Travis was clutching his nose and rolling around on the ground, and beside him Violet stood back up, shaking the mud and rain from his coat. He looked down at Travis and took a couple paw steps back, looking up at Holly with a small look of satisfaction. She wasn't able to return it, and saw that Violet's fulfillment had vanished just as quickly as it had shown up, being replaced with alarm and terror as he looked at her and cried out her name.

The result was instantaneous. Just as she turned to see what Violet was looking at, something solid collided with her cheek and sent her spiraling into the wet and dirty grass. Her vision turned hazy with pain, mixed with the falling rain resulted in her seeing nothing but fuzzy grungy colors. The sounds of fighting slowly fell away with a final thud, and she hoped it wasn't that of one of her friends. She heard several people or Pokemon, she couldn't tell the difference, take a sharp of intake of breath. A female voice, who Holly thought was likely Vetch, spoke through the sudden silence.

"S-sage Gorm..." She sputtered. Holly's vision was starting to return, though the sting in her face wasn't, and she could make out a tall figure towering over her. Holly could faintly make out a long dust colored robe with the familiar Plasma symbol placed as a brooch, and a white mustache that made him look more like a history professor than anything else. He disregarded Holly for the time being and looked at each of the Plasma workers, none of whom would meet his eyes. When he spoke, his voice gave off a feeling of respect, but not in the sense that he was giving it, but that he deserved it.

"Months of planning, money, and the most valuable of resources, time, go into this mission. Yet here I find you picking fights with a child. Have you no shame?" He queried. "No respect for the goal we have all committed ourselves to?" There was no answer. "WHAT HAVE YOU TO SAY FOR YOURSELVES?!" He roared.

"We're s-sorry sir." The ginger girl answered. "I'm afraid to report that even though we successfully received the skull, it would appear that it is in fact not that of the legendary drag-"

"I could not care less if you had told me what your uncle ate for brunch last Sunday, Ms. Vickleson. I asked why you're fighting. With. A. Child." He gritted his teeth as he said the last sentence.

"W-well, uh, sir, she's the one on the run from the police. The one who Ms. Lucy talked about." She said. Sage Gorm seemed to think about this for a second, and as Holly began to stand he pointed to the ginger and the other male.

"You two, get him out of here and clean him up. Vetch, stay." He ordered. With a final look at Holly, they retracted their Pokemon, picked up their comrade, and carried him the way Gorm came in. Finally on her feet, Holly looked around in unease to see that though not yet beaten, her Pokemon had certainly seen better days. Louis' fur had several splotches of blood stained around his leg, Yon-Yon looked as though had suffered through several Hypnosis attacks and was fighting to keep her eyes open, and Marina was covered in as many scratches as Holly were. Fighting back wasn't as much of an option as it had been a few minutes ago.

 _It's just one old man, Holly. Just one unarmed man and an unarmed teenager, Yon-Yon could probably take them on even being half asleep, what's stopping her?_ Holly reasoned with herself. A thump behind her told her that Yon-Yon had succumbed to the Hypnosis effects, and was out cold.

"I would strongly discourage any further attempts to fight. You've caused enough bloodshed for one day, don't you think?" He chided, the hem of his robe floating along the leaves as he took careful steps towards Holly. Holly felt the natural reaction to back up. She didn't like scary old people walking towards her, it was a personal dislike of hers.

"You're persistent for a teenager, feel free to take that as a compliment. I've received far more reports of you tampering with our work, and it has become bothersome to the core. But we simply cannot have you interfering any longer." He grumbled. "So many tellings of you and your cruel, twisted, ways, even the news stations have broadcasted it. It's sad really, the kind of example you set to the younger generation." He took another step towards her. She took another step back. Holly saw him stick his hand into his robe, but what he reached for she couldn't hope to see.

"I hope you don't judge me too hard for what I'm about to do. But I have a duty, and you have destiny. Both of these must be fulfilled." He sighed and his hand reemerged from inside of his robe, holding a long silver tool with a very, very sharp tip at the end. A dagger. An actual silver dagger. "At the very least, I can rest easy knowing I have freed your slaves from their prison." He closed his eyes as though deeply relishing the thought.

Holly's mind exploded in a mixture of fear and confusion. He was going to kill her, he was actually going to stab her with the intent of ending her life. Holly made to turn and run backwards but tripped in her sudden burst of adrenaline and terror. Landing hard on her back she saw that his eyes were open again, and that he was coming closer and closer. She tossed and turned her head, surely her allies would come to her rescue? Louis looked absolutely livid, but his leg was covered in blood and both he and Holly knew he had no chance of making it over in time, not that it had stopped him from crawling towards her. Violet was sitting horror-struck at what was happening, frozen in place.

"Sage Gorm, p-please, you can't honestly be thinking of..." Vetch inquired. But Gorm didn't take his eyes off Holly.

"Vetch, you know so little of what Plasma needs that the fact you're suggesting you might know more than I about what must be done is, quite frankly, insulting. This girl is danger to the people and Pokemon around her, and that includes us. This I assure you. Now kindly shut up." He hissed. Vetch didn't speak up again.

"P-please, I don't want anything to do with you. Arceus, please just let me go." Holly begged. Time seemed to slow down grudgingly, like it was trudging through mud. The knife was getting closer. Holly couldn't move, that knife was going to pierce her, even if she tried to move he'd probably just throw it. All that was left was to wait. Thoughts of death shot through her mind. Millions of questions burned into her brain, what was being an adult like? Who would her first love be? Was waiting at the DMV really that bad? Things she would never get to experience, because she was going to be stabbed by a crazy cultist guy in a stupid looking robe.

 _Man these are some lame final thoughts,_ Holly thought in a moment of self realization.

"HEY!" Came a voice from behind me. The outburst, filled to the brim with emotion, erupted from a tiny Oshawott covered in scratches. Everyone, even Sage Gorm looked genuinely surprised at the shout this little Pokemon was capable of. Holly turned her head, and took the opportunity to scoot further back from the dagger pointed right at her. Marina was fuming, she didn't have the cutesy pout that Holly was used to, instead it was a stern look of vexation she had never seen before on her Pokemon.

"I don't know who you think you are, preaching about Pokemon. I never complained, not once, about where I am or who I'm with! I've devoted myself to doing whatever I can to make sure my friends are happy!" Marina growled. Marina took a step forward. Then she took another. "And here you come, with your stupid Plasma philosophy saying I'm a slave? That what I do isn't my choice, but that someone else makes me? That someone else should get credit for how I act?" A faint glow had overtaken Marina, as if her very words were having a physical effect on her being. Marina walked right past Holly, still radiating like a beacon among the grey and rainy atmosphere surrounding them. "Screw that!" Marina screeched.

"I, ah... don't quite-" Gorm started, pulling back his dagger as though unsure of his choice in actions. Marina didn't falter however, even when Holly called out her name. The little Oshawott was completely enveloped in light now and was making a full sprint towards Gorm. Holly squinted and felt as though she was staring at headlights, while Violet and Louis had both turned their heads as well. She saw through the light that Gorm was covering his eyes with his robe sleeve, something he would come to regret in a matter of seconds.

In covering his vision, Gorm did not see the light shatter like gleaming cocoon, revealing Marina to have the twice the height, twice the anger, and twice the number of shells. No longer was she a small and pudgy Oshawott, but now a magnificent water fueled powerhouse, with two scallop shells tucked on either side of her thighs. Marina had evolved.

"So stop messing with my trainer!" Marina screamed, and in a flash of blue Marina gripped her shells, spinning straight towards Sage Gorm and brought them down as if she were wielding blades. It was as though the rain falling upon them was being spewed from Marina, with water flourishing around her shells. Holly stared, mouth agape, as Marina skidded past the Sage and paused while Gorm clutched his chest. Two long slash marks now ripped through his Plasma robes, left a small streak of crimson in each. Holly was speechless as he collapsed, still clutching at his chest, the dagger dropped to the earth, forgotten.

Marina tucked her shells back into her side, and turned to look at the fallen Gorm. Suddenly her face shifted from determined rage to utter horror as she looked down at the bloodstains painted along his chest, and she looked up at Holly who could not tell if the rain was simply dripping down her face or if she was crying.

"I... I didn't-" She began, but Louis cut across her. He was still struggling to stand, but managed to steady himself somewhat against the tree.

"Holly, lass, we need to go. Get us in the balls, now!" He ordered. Holly nodded, trying to clear her head enough to focus. She reached into her bag and pulled out Marina's ball, retrieving her in a flash of red light. Then Louis, Violet, and a still passed out Yon-Yon.

 _Get your friends and get out of here, get your friends and get out of here,_ she repeated to herself. Holly couldn't risk getting distracted, cause if she did she'd think about the situation, and that was something she was trying her best not do. Making sure she left nothing behind she turned to run in some arbitrary direction, but paused at the sight of Vetch. Neither of them really seemed sure what the other's next move would be, but then Vetch raised her hands in a surrender.

"I'm not going to stop you." She said, the shake in her voice betraying her otherwise calm stature. Holly didn't have time to ask why, or to even thank her, so she settled with a simple nod and a "Sorry" before dashing off in the opposite direction. The woods flew by her in a flurry of brown and grey, the rain giving her no pity as it poured as hard as it did earlier. Why did this always happen? Something bad would happen and it would fly by in an instant, usually in a confusing manner that left her head spinning. Then she would run away, like the scared little girl she was.

"Excuse me, darling!" A voice called out from somewhere in front of her. Holly was so surprised by it that she didn't take account into where she was running and ended up ramming herself head first into a tree. Holly fell to the forest floor, her hands reaching up and grasping her forehead. A small trickle of blood was oozing into her hands and tears were forming at her eyes, that tree had really shown her what for. The voice, feminine, gasped and as she tried to stand back up, she felt a hand wrap around her arm.

"Now honey you really ought to sit down, that was a nasty hit you just took." The voice suggested. Holly forced her eyes to open and look at whoever had a hold of her arm, seeing a man in a frilly pink scarf and roguish brown hair that seemed to overlap around his face. Holly didn't know who he was or what he wanted, but with her luck he was probably a part of Plasma. So she did what her instincts told her to do and kicked as hard as she could, digging her heel right into his gut. His hand instantly retracted and she pushed herself off of the ground, speeding off once again. She didn't bother looking back at him, she had no time, she just had to get away from wherever this was.

* * *

Another hour and a half of walking and Holly was tired. Not just your average worn-out after a jog or sleepy from missing a nap, but rather she was ready to give in and fall over. Possibly to never get up again. It was the kind of tired that made you angry, but with no energy to kick or scream, which only made her angrier. These walks had given her plenty of time to think, whether that was a good or bad thing she wasn't quite sure, and she had never seen a life in more disarray. Parents split up at seven so she goes to live in the bonafide slum of Unova until she's fifteen, boom, Mother is dead. Go to live with her father, boom, run away. Try to start anew, boom, wanted by the law. Make friends, boom, one dies. Boom, being hunted by an organization full of psychopaths. Boom. Boom. Boom.

 _Someone could write a book about me,_ Holly contemplated, brushing aside a bush. _Or a least an amature online story that has a bad uploading schedule, I'm at least worth that. I think._ She wondered where she was exactly, she had been walking for a while after all. She at least hoped she was far enough to where nobody would bother her. All she truly wanted was to sleep, but she couldn't, not yet. She had to be sure she was far enough. A little more walking wouldn't kill her.

Another half hour it was, that is until she had the sneaking suspicion that someone was following her. At first she just thought that it was a Pokemon, brushing along the leaves that cracked under her feet. It became unnervingly consistent as she walked, and she was left with no choice but to turn and face her stalker. When she did, the only thing behind her was the grass, the leaves, and the trees. God were there a lot of trees, thankfully her complete left side was open air that oversaw the rest of the forest due to her ending up along a ridge. She wasn't the sharpest crayon in the knife drawer, but she knew better than to just brush this off. Someone was nearby. Someone was following her.

"Come out!" Holly ordered, grabbing a nearby branch and holding it out in front of her. "I've had just about the worst morning ever and I'll make sure you do too if you don't come out! Now!" Despite it seeming rather obvious that Holly was angry, she was in fact far more scared than anything else. She wasn't sure if her adrenaline had confused her or if the anger was simply a ruse, a way to seem far more intimidating than she actually was. Personally, she didn't think it was working very well.

The bushes rusted as something big and brown tumbled out from behind them, cursing and sputtering like a drunk who had fallen off of his stool. Bark the Timburr shook his head and dusted a few burrs off of him, barely standing up before a branch made contact with his face and tipped him over. He groaned and fell back on the ground, grabbing at where the stick had hit him and kicking his feet.

Holly tried to slow her breathing and calm down since it turned out it wasn't the police or Plasma as she had feared, but her emotions took control and she picked up rock, chucking it right at Bark's face.

"Wait wait wai-" He got out before the rock crashed into him and he let out a string of curses, a small trickle of blood now running down his face. He rolled around on the dirt some more, raising a hand and waving at Holly.

"Stop! Arceus alive, have you gone mad?!" He asked. "I came out, well fell out actually but who cares, so why are you pelting rocks at me? I thought the point of coming out of hiding is so something like that _doesn't_ happen!" Bark wiped the blood out from under his eye and shakily stood up. Holly was fuming, her breathing heavy and her face red as she walked over to him.

"W-what do you want, what are you even doing here?" She asked him, crouching down to his level. He glared at her, reaching up and smacking her right against her cheek. It wasn't hard or especially painful, but it did its job of keeping her stunned enough for Bark to speak.

"That's better. Now, you don't like me and I sure as hell don't like you. But I can't go home or anywhere else for that matter cause now I'm associated with you and your friends, and you clearly have no idea what you're doing out here away from civilization, do you?" He assumed. Holly blinked and narrowed her eyes at the Timburr.

"I'm not- I mean, I myself don't know. But Louis has lived in the wild, I have faith he can help. I've made it this far after all." She assured him.

"Who's Louis? Was he the Herdier?" Bark asked, raising an eyebrow at her pockets.

"Yeah, him. He's been all around the region, so if anyone would know it'd be him." Holly stated. Bark looked skeptical but shrugged his shoulders, turning around the other way.

"Alright, fine, well if you don't need my help then I'll just be on my way."

"Wait, I didn't say that!" Holly said, reaching her to stop him. "Just, can I think about it?" Bark rolled his eyes and sat against one of the many trees that towered over them. Holly supposed this was a 'Yes' and thought to herself, thinking of the pros and cons.

On the one hand, Bark had proven his strength and vitality in the Gym Battle, and when they first encountered him in the Pinwheel Forest. He would no doubt be a powerful addition to the team, but raw strength only got you so far. Would he get along well with the others? Would he be loyal when things became messy? She couldn't be sure. She had never really had to worry about it before, but it was becoming more and more apparent that she needed to be careful with who she kept close to her as the stakes became higher. If someone pulled a knife out on her again though, she'd much rather have Bark at her side than not.

Holly sighed and took off her beanie, scratching her head. At the very least she would have to check with the others and see what they thought, they all deserved a say in this as much as she did, if not more. A few drops of water splashed against her hair, causing her to look up at the sky that had been darkened by storm clouds. The rain had been reduced to a mere trickle, leaving the only real trouble to be when a gust of wind would shake a tree and pour a gallon of water down below. Looking around, Holly saw that she had arrived at dense cluster of trees in a forest of already dense clustered trees, but ones that gave her an idea.

She strode up the cluster and inspected it, pulling on the branches gently and walking in-between the trees. A thick fallen branch that had fallen in a slant, one end being lifted by another branch and the other firmly stuck in the mud. If she could find a tarp or some thick leaves she figured she could make a small shelter out of it by draping them over the branch. It wouldn't be much, but it'd be a nice start. She walked up a ways to a hill where through a clearing among the leaves she could see the top of Mt. Lentimas in the distance. At least she had a faint of idea of where she was now.

Back at cluster, Bark was tossing a few stones off the ridge as hard as he could. Holly paid him no attention and continued shifting through the cluster. The ground was fairly soft, which is to say it didn't feel like rock-hard concrete, but it sure wasn't a feathery pillow. The grass was nice and plentiful instead of just dirt, if not a little wet. Dusting off her hands, Holly reached into her pockets and pulled out her pokeballs, releasing all of her Pokemon out around her. Everyone blinked and looked around at the new location, some looking confused, others tired, but everyone turned to Holly to speak. Clearly they all wanted a word with her.

"Guys, wait." Holly said and raised her hands. "I know we have a lot to talk about, trust me we do, but there's something we should get out of the way." Louis looked like he wanted to argue, but Holly didn't give him a chance to. She turned and pointed out at Bark who wasn't looking at them, instead focusing on tossing his rocks off the ridge. "He wants to join us. Do you think we should let him? I think it's a good idea, but I thought it'd only be fair if we voted."

Now nobody wanted to speak. They all turned and looked over at Bark, and then back at Holly. Louis, naturally, spoke up first.

"What exactly makes you think it's a good idea? I don't mean to be harsh, but your judgement is not that of the best, lass." He questioned, slipping back into his old habit. This was a fair question, one that Holly didn't mind answering in the slightest.

"Well, he's already saved us a couple of times hasn't he? I mean, I think it's safe to say he could add a bit of, you know, strength to the team. Not that any of you are weak!" She quickly added. "I just, think it would be safer to have him with us in case something like, what happened earlier for example, were to happen again." She clapped her hands together and looked at her Pokemon. Yon-Yon, now awake, tipped her head to one side in thought Louis stared at the ground.

"No, I'm weak." Violet said softly. Holly looked over at him and instinctively tried to deny it, but Violet spoke again before she could. "I climbed up the tree and didn't see a thing, so I kept on climbing higher and higher trying to see something, anything. If I hadn't had climbed so high up I would've known something went wrong, heck, even when I did get down all I did was watch as that guy pulled a knife on you. I was useless." He mumbled, kicking a stone with his forepaw.

Holly didn't quite know what to say. He was half right, he was by no means the strongest one in the group and while Holly hadn't conducted any sort of test, she knew Violet paled in comparison to the others. He wasn't the quickest, or the toughest, or even the smartest, but he was still a part of her family.

"All I've done is get myself injured and cause trouble for the rest of the group." He said lamely, laying down and putting his head on his paws. "I'm sorry, Holly." He murmured. Holly wanted to comfort him and assure him that he was as valuable as any other member of the team, but the words simply wouldn't form in her mind. To both her rescue and surprise, Louis strode over and nudged Violet.

"Up and at 'em, come on." He said, shouldering Violet to his feet. "There's a good lad, let's have a little walk-and-talk, what do you say?" Violet must have agreed to his request, as he followed Louis out from the cluster and towards the forest. Louis turned and called back to the others saying, "We won't go far, promise." And with that, vanished into the trees alongside Violet, hobbling along on his three good legs.

Holly watched the both of them drift out of sight. She hoped Louis knew what he was doing, thinking that Yon-Yon would be a much better candidate for a pep-talk. It sort of went without saying that Louis was the more abrasive side of the group.

 _I'll just have to hope Louis doesn't scar him,_ she decided. Holly was just expositioning herself at this point, she needed to take charge and explain the situation to the others, she had a duty as the trainer after all. The others turned from watching the two leave, back to Holly. Holly stared back, so many emotions spread across their faces. Fear, confusion, hopelessness, even Yon-Yon had a considerable look of bleakness stretched across her. Taking a breath, Holly sat down to where they all met at eye-level and did her best to look somewhat optimistic.

"So, votes on having him?" She asked. Marina shrugged and Yon-Yon nodded silently, Mythril decided to make herself known by hopping up on Yon-Yon's head and tapping her feet and bouncing vigorously. Holly decided to assume this meant 'yes'.

"Great, so that's out of the way, now we can talk about... about what happened." She said, rather apprehensively. Was any of this really important? She was feeling the need to just roll over and fall asleep, but she forced herself to discard the notion. None of the others spoke still, the only sound being that of Bark still tossing stones off the side.

"First off, are you all okay?" Holly asked. Their health was vital, and she felt awful for not asking sooner. Yon-Yon glanced up at the tap-dancing Roggenrola and at a blood-stained Marina, sniffing each of them in turn.

"I believe so. You'd be amazed at what staying inside a ball can do, though I wouldn't go as far to say we're in the best shape of our-" She paused as she turned back to look at Marina. She looked caught off guard, her jaw dropping and the smallest of tears could be seen forming in her eyes. At first Holly assumed she thought the blood splatters on Marina belonged to the Dewott, but then realized it was the fact that she _was_ a Dewott.

"Marina, you evolved?" Yon-Yon asked incredulously, looking the Dewott up and down. Marina seemed confused and looked down at her own body, blinking.

"Guess so." Was all she said. Her voice sounded hollow and empty, something that worried both Holly and Yon-Yon as this was a definite first. Her Blitzle turned back and forth between the two, a horrified expression stained upon her usually cheerful face. Holly could only imagine what Yon-Yon must have been thinking, and decided to set the record straight before she could ask.

Holly went on to explain what had transpired after Yon-Yon succumbed to the Hypnosis attacks, so many things in such a short amount of time. Yon-Yon looked mortified as the words tumbled out of her trainer's mouth, and even Mythril stopped her tapping. As Holly finished recounting her near-death experience, she noticed that she had gained an extra listener, as now not even the sounds of stones being tossed could be heard.

"That's... that's just awful." Yon-Yon said as her trainer finished the tale. "Holly, I'm so sorry. No one should ever have to go through such an ordeal, especially not when you're so young and... I'm just so terribly sorry." Holly looked up into her eyes and saw the same pain she had seen in her own mother's years ago. It was that look of horror parents had when they realized their child had gone through something terrible, something that was out of their control and all they could do was help with the aftermath. Both Yon-Yon and Marina walked over to Holly.

Holly felt Yon-Yon's muzzle dip into her shoulder, and she instinctively wrapped her arm around the Blitzle's neck and felt her emotions take over as tears began to spill out, and drip down her face. It didn't take long until Marina was also crying, whether because of Holly or because of her own issues was unknown, but Yon-Yon gripped them both closer and shushed them gently, telling them it would be alright. Violet and Louis walked back out of the trees, watching the clustered group of human and Pokemon weep awkwardly until they sat around the three in a supportive manner, as supportive as you could be in their situation.

Holly felt this had been a long time coming, and at the same time as if it was the only thing she had done of late. She listened to the gentle words from Yon-Yon, the whistle of the wind as the day winded down, to her own inner workings. A lot had happened today. Perhaps it was the aftershock of almost being stabbed to death, but she felt both unsure and confident about her feelings. She knew she was sad and tired, but also felt as though she wasn't convinced of those feelings. Maybe all she needed was a good cry, a good meal, and a good rest as her mother used to say, and start again tomorrow.

Tomorrow would be the beginning of something new, she decided.

* * *

 **A.N: I've no excuse for leaving any reader of this story for five months, and I'm sorry to anyone (I know there's at least someone) who waited so long. I will do my best to make sure it doesn't happen again, I thank you for your patience and for reading. A writer is nothing without their readers.**


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